.W6  1898 
Sunday  School 


BV  1505 
World's 

Convention  1898  : 
The  World's  third  Sunday 

school  convention 


; 


(        APR  4    WZ  ^ 

THE  Mi^G/CAl  %^^> 

[ 


WORLD'S  XHIRE>- 


Sunday  School  Convention 


LONDON 

JULY    IITH    TO    IGTH.    1808. 


AMERICAN  EDITION 

With  Pkuceedings  of  Preliminary  Meetings  on  Board 
THE  Steamship  Catalonia. 


PUBLISHED  FOR  THE 

INTERNATIONAL   EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

—  BY  — 

W.  B.  Jacobs, 
13'J  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago. 


OKFICERS  OF  CONVENTION 


Proi-ibent: 

Mk.  Kdwaiui  Tdweus  (F^ondon). 

r*tco=Prcsi5onts: 


MAityuisoK  N'oa  TH  AMP  ION  iLuuclon). 

Count  a.  Von  Bkknstohkk  i  Berlin ». 

Hon.  S.  H.  Blakk  (Ontario). 

Mk.  J.  J.  Beli,  (Minnesota). 

Mr.  F\  F.  Belsey,  .l.P.  (London). 

Mn.  N.  ]5.  BHor(;HTo.\  iN.  Carolina). 


Rev.  H.  VV.  Hkown  (Mexiio). 
Mr.  W.  Caki.son  ( Stockholm i. 
Sir  John  Cuthuertson  (Glasgow). 
Mr.W.  M.  Hartshorn  (Massachusett.s). 
Mr.  G.  M.  HiTC'HfocK  (Victoria). 
BisHi  ii-  Thc  uu'un  (India  i. 


S.vccutifc  Committee: 


^ 


I  7i  air //I  (in:  MR.  B.  F.  J.vcoK.s  (U.S.A.) 


Mr.  Kdward  Towers  (Enjrhuid). 
Mr.  Chari.es  Waters 
Mr.  Ja.mes  Tili.ett 

KKV.  Rf)HT.  Cm. LEV 

Kkv.  D.\n/.y  .Shee.n 

Ht)N.  John  WanamaivEr  (U.S.A.) 

Mr.  a.  B.  McCrii-i.is 

Mr.  E.  K.  Warren  ' 


Mr.  S.  p.  Leet  (Canada). 

Mr.  T.  C.  Ikehara  (Japan). 

Mr.  Aug.  Pai.m  (Sweden). 

Mr.  Arch.  Jackson  (Australasia) , 

Rev.  Ur.  Bi'RT  (Italy). 

Prok.  Fetzkk  (Germany). 

Rkv.  McCiREK;  (France). 


(Enrolment   Socvctavief-: 

PRof.  C.  N.  Bknti.ev  (H(i>loii).  i    Mr.  .1.  !•;.  Fwinu a)!1).  F.R.(_i.S. (Loudon). 

Stattf'tical  Secvetarief : 

Mr.  Ja.mes  Tii.i.ki'I'  (London).  |    Mr.  J.  B.  (;itEK.\E  (Alabama). 


Kecorbiucs  Secretaries': 


Mr.  W.  J.  Semei.roth   (U.S.A.).  ('/lie/ 

Secretarij. 
Mr.  E.  Rokkrtso.n  iCunada). 


Mr.  E.  Nt>RRis  (England). 
Mr.  a.  (^ra\v?"ori)  (Scotland). 


Committee  on  Kei'Olutionf-: 


Mr.  F.  F.  Bei.sey     (England). 

Mr.  LlUDIARl) 

Rkv.  R.  Cui,i-ey 

Rev.  Danzy  Sheen 

Mr.  Purver 

Mr.  I'ahi.ane  (.Scotland). 

Mr.  Bristow  (U.S.A.) 

Mr.  IsRAEt.  P.  Black 

Mr.  N.   B.  BRoliiHTON 

Mr.  M.  C.  Hazari..  Ph.D.    ■' 


Mr.  J.  R.  Pepper  (U.S.A.) 
Mr.  Stocks  (Au.stralasia). 
Hon.  S.  H.  Blake  (Canada). 
Rkv.  Dr.  Potts 
PK(jk.  Fktzer  (Germany). 
Pastor  Trtvk  (.Sweden). 
Rev.  H.  W.  Brown  (MexicoV 
Rev.  A.  Jewson  (India). 
Mr.  T.  C.  Ikehara  (Japan) 


The  •VVoKi.DS  Third  SuNi>AY-st;HOoL  Convention,"  long  ;intici- 
pated  and  laboriou.sly  prepared  for,  has  come  and  Kone;  and  its  delight- 
ful but  transient  experiences  and  association.s  have  quickly  passed  into 
the  sphere  of  history  and  tradition. 

To  assist,  on  the  one  hand,  those  who  were  privileged  to  attend  the 
Sessions  of  the  Convention,  in  recalling  the  ideas  and  impressions  then 
gained:  and,  on  the  other,  to  supply  a  faithful,  though  necessarily  im- 
perfect, portraiture  of  those  great  gatherings  to  the  larger  Sunday-school 
world  without,  the  present  Report  is  issued.  In  reference  thereto,  it  is 
right  to  state  that,  while  the  various  papers  read  have  been  printed 
directly  from  the  MSS.  of  their  respective  authors,  for  the  oral  addresses 
the  compositor  has  had  to  depend  almost  entirely  on  the  reporters'  notes 
— it  is  hoped  with  no  serious  sacritlce  of  accuracy. 

A  ■'  Worlds  Convention  "  in  the  interest  of  Sunday-schools  is  no 
longer  a  novelty.  Otherwise  it  might  seem  a  fact  worthy  of  note,  that 
a  multitude  of  gratuitous  religious  teachers,  many  of  them  engaged  in 
.secular  pursuits,  should  voluntarily  undertake  long  journeys  from  many 
different  centres,  not  without  perils  (as  the  record  of  the  past  month 
painfully  discloses),  with  the  one  object  of  conferring  together  on  the 
position  and  prospects  of  their  unobtrusive  work,  and  the  best  methods 
of  extending  and  improving  it. 

The  contents  of  this  volume  will  afford  abundant  evidence,  not  only 
of  the  far-reaching  influence  and  almost  unlimited  adaptability  of  Sun- 
day-school agency,  but  of  its  continual  reaching  forth  to  new  scenes  of 
effort  and  new  developments  of  plan  and  method;  each  and  all  pointing 
toward  one  supreme  object— the  winning  of  the  youth  of  all  lands  to 
Christian  discipleship  and  Christian  service.  The  outlook  of  the  Conven- 
tion just  closed  has  been  both  hopeful  and  comprehensive,  giving  proof 
of  vitality  and  progress  in  all  directions.  The  spirit  of  fraternal  union 
was  dominant  throughout,  strengthening  comradeships  in  the  strife 
with  ignorance  and  sin.  The  weary  were  refreshed  and  flagging  energies 
were  revived.  And  as  like  gatherings  in  the  past  have  proved  points  of 
new  departure  in  some  special  directions,  so  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  this  also  will  be  among  the  many  benefits  derived  from  the  Conven- 
tion of  1898.  Such  is  the  earnest  hope  and  prayer  of  those  under  whose 
superintendence  its  meetings  have  been  brought  to  a  successful  termi- 
nation, affording  new  grounds  for  thankfulness  and  praise. 

W.  H.  C. 
56,  Olu  Bailey,  London. 
Aug  II -It.  1898. 


THE  AMERICAN  DELEGATION. 


0/,  the  CATALONIA. 

To  charter  ;i  sloumer,  though  it  be  neither  tlio  linest  iioi-  fastest,  is. 
the  ideal  way  for  a  delegation  to  journey  to  a  convention  on  a  foreign 
shore.  To  Mr.  W.  N.  Hartshorn  is  due  the  chief  credit  for  this  ideal  ar- 
rangement with  the  Catalonia  to  take  the  American  delegation  to  the 
World's  Convention  of  1K98  at  London,  England. 

Early  on  the  evening  of  June  28th,  1898,  Sunday-school  workers  from 
all  parts  of  the  American  Continent  were  hurrying  aboard  the  Cvinard 
Liner  Catalonia  at  East  Boston,  and  .soon  all  were  located  in  their  state 
rooms.  Many  arose  early  to  witness  the  actual  departure  of  the  ship  at 
live  o'clock  the  next  morning.  Then  for  the  first  time  did  it  become  gen- 
erally known  that  neither  our  leader,  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  nor  Mr.  VV.  N. 
Hartshorn,  nor  any  of  the  other  vice-presidents  and  immediate  helpers  of 
Mr.  Jacobs  in  the  leadership,  were  to  be  with  us  on  this  voyage  or  in  the 
World's  Convention.  There  was  great  disappointment,  ;ind  we  soon  found 
we  were  "  at  sea  "  in  more  than  one  sense. 

The  last  good-bye  was  said,  the  last  handkerchief  was  waved,  soon 
the  harbor  pilot  left  on  the  pilot  boat,  taking  with  him  our  last  letters 
and  telegrams,  dear  America  faded  from  view,  and  before  long  everybody 
was  getting  acquainted  with  everybody  else  in  the  good  Sunday-school 
ship. 

We  soon  found  we  were  not  without  a  real  leader.  Mr.  A.  IJ.  McCril- 
lis,  of  Rhode  Island,  the  only  member  on  board  of  the  World's  Executive 
Committee,  called  a  meeting  of  those  who  had  been  appointed  proxy 
members, and  the  American  part  of  the  Committee  was  promptly  organized 
with  A.  B.  McCrillis.  Rhode  Island,  Chairman,  and  H.  C.  Groves,  Florida 
Secretary,  with  the  following  other  members;  Prof.  H.  M.  Hamill,  Illi 
nois;  John  R.  Pepper,  Tennessee:  C.  D.  Meigs,  Indiana:  H.  S.  Conant. 
Massachusetts:  Rev.  A.  Lucas,  New  Brunswick:  and  W.  J.  Semelroth. 
Missouri.  Members  or  proxy  members  of  the  International  Executive 
Committee  who  were  on  tioard  were  asked  to  sit  with  the  World's  Com- 
mittee, and  E.  K.  Warren,  of  Michigan,  and  W.  A.  Newcombe,  of  Maine, 
responded  and  aided  the  Committee. 

This  Committee  held  daily  sessions,  apiiointed  all  the  committees  for 
departments  of  services  and  work  on  the  ship,  carefully  considered  all 
the  points  in  the  letter  of  suggestions  from  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  the  Chair- 
man of  the  World's  Standing  Executive  Committee,  and  President  of  the 
previous  World's  Convention,  took  action  so  far  as  the  American  part  of 
the  Committee  could  act,  and  planned  for  systematic  co-operation  at 
London  to  accomplish  the  purposes  of  the  Convention.  The  Committee 
on  the  Catalonia  was  an  exceedingly  busy  one,  and  Chairman  McCrillis 
made  it  an  effective  one.  Chairman  McCrillis,  Prof.  H.  M.  Ilamill  and 
W.  J.  Semelroth  were  delegated  by  the  Comjnittee  to  meet  the  London 
brethren  in  advance  of  the  American  delegation  to  complete  the  final  ar- 
rangements for  the  convention  and  the  program. 

The  Devotional  Meetings. 

The  Devotional  Committcse  consisted  of  Rev.  Aquila  Lucas.  Chair- 
man; Rev.  G(!o.  O.  Bachman.  Secretary;  Rev.  Wm.  Shaw.  Fred.  G. 
Este.y.  and  Rev.  C.  H.  Briggs.  D.  D. 

Two  services  a  day  were  held  at  tirst.  at  10  a.  m.  and  S  p.  m.  When 
the  other  committees  got  to  worlv.  and  the  gospel  meetings  on  the  steer- 
age deck  were  inaugurated,  the  evening  service  was  discontinued.  Estey 
&  Co.  loaned  the  organ,  and  Biglow  &  Main  Company  gave  the  delegates 
each  a  copy  of  the  splendid  book,  "Church  Hymns  and  Gospel  Songs.  " 
Mr.  G.  Fred.  Estey  led,  and  made  the  singing  exceedingly  enjoyable. 
Mrs.  Braker,  Mrs.  .Semelroth.  and  Mr.  Estey  sang  solos,  and  added  much 
to  the  profit  of  the  meetings. 

The  meetings  were  of  strong  spiritual  tone,  and  were  a  blessing  to 
all  on  board.  The  first  night  out,  W.  J.  .Semelroth  being  called  upon  to 
read  the  scripture  lesson,  read  the  scriptural  greeting  from  our  beloved 
leader  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  and  presented  the  copy  of  his  latest  photograph 


which  had  been  sent  to  the  delegates,  together  with  the  Bothnia  flatr. 
Photograph  and  flag  were  afterwards  suspended  in  the  cabin.  The  scrip- 
tures sent  by  Mr.  Jacobs  were  Phil.  4:  4-9;  Ool.  3:  li>-17:  and  Eph.  3:  14-21. 
The  leaders  of  the  meetings  were  in  turn.  Rev.  A.  Lucas,  Rev.  M.  L. 
Gray,  H.  S.  Conant.  Rev.  G.  H.  ClarU,  C.  D.  Meigs,  Rev.  T.  C.  Carlton,  W. 
J.  Semelroth,  Rev.  S.  T.  Ford.  Rev  Wm.  Pearce,  Rev.  S.  J.  Braker,  Dr. 
J.  Robertson,  T.  C.  Ikehara,  Rev.  W.  P.  Landers.  G.  W.  Hinckley,  and 
Rev.  R.  B.  Woodbridge.  Mr.  A.  B.  McCrillis  led  the  farewell  meeting  on 
Saturday  night  before  reaching  Liverpool,  and  it  was  another  praise 
service  in  which  not  half  who  so  desired  could  speak  out  the  praise  in 
their  hearts  for  a  safe  voyage. 

On  Sunday,  July  3,  Rev.  A.  M.  Hubley  read  the  regular  service,  and 
Rev.  C.  H.  Briggs,  D.D.,  of  Missouri,  preached  a  sermon  of  great  Interest 
and  power  from  the  text  "Of  the  increase  of  His  government  there  is  no 
end."    The  Devotional  Committee  did  splendid  work. 

The  song  services  and  Gospel  meetings  on  the  steerage  deck  were 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  C.  D.  Meigs  with  a  different  speaker  each 
evening.  They  were  blessed  in  that  several  were  brought  under  convic- 
tion, onebackslider  was  reclaimed,  and  a  widow  returning  to  Ireland  was. 
converted.  The  speakers  were  A.  D.  Craig.  Rev.  J.  S.  Braker,  Rev.  A. 
Lucas.  C.  D.  Meigs,  Rev.  A.  M.  Hubley.  Rev.  C.  H.  Briggs.  D.D..  Rev.  E. 
W.  Mullens.  Key.  L.  B.  Maxwell.  C.  H.  Lanham.  and  Rev.  T.  C.  Carlton. 

Sunday-school  Work. 

The  Committee  on  Sunday-school  Work  on  the  Catalonia  consisted  of 
H.  S.  Conant,  Chairman:  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Bryner,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes,  Rev. 
J.  B.  Baker,  Rev.  W.  C.  Goucher,  C.  D.  Meigs,  and  T.  C.  Ikehara.  Thisv 
Committee  arranged  several  very  profitable  meetings.  The  first  day  was 
an  Open  Parliament,  another  day  Normal  Work,  another  House-to- 
House  Visitation  and  Home  Department,  and  still  another,  the  Teachers" 
Meeting:  and  the  last.  Graded  Schools  and  Sunday-school  Missionary 
Work.  The  meeting  given  to  the  Teachers'  Meeting  was  gotten  up  Ijy 
Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes,  and  that  on  Graded  .Schools  by  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Bryner. 
Among  the  speakers  during  the  week  were  Prof.  H.  M.  Hamill,  C.  D. 
Meigs,  H.  S.  Conant,  Rev.  Alex.  Dight,  Rev.  A.  Lucas,  A.  D.  Craig. 
John  R.  Pepper,  W.  J.  Semelroth,  James  Edmunds.  Rev.  W.  C.  Goucher,. 
Mrs.  Mary  F.  Bryner,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes,  Miss  Bertha  F.  Vella,  Miss  M. 
Blaikie.  Israel  P.  Black,  G.  Fred  Estey,  Rev.  S.  T.  Ford,  and  Rev.  W.  A. 
Hadley.  This  indicates  an  array  of  talent  that  could  not  fail  to  make  the- 
week  one  of  practical  value  to  all  the  active  Sunday-school  workers. 

The  Primary  Workers. 

.Sixteen  Primary  Unions  and  Association  Primary  Departments  were 
represented  in  the  conferences  of  Primary  Workers  held  on  board.  Re- 
ports and  suggestions  were  heard  from  all  of  them.  Tuesday  afternoon, 
"Ways  of  Working  in  Unions"  were  discussed,  and  many  good  points  were 
made.  The  conference  was  continued  Wednesday,  with  a  discussion  of 
union  plans,  preparatory  to  arranging  a  conference  with  the  English  Pri- 
mary Workers.  The  third  conference  was  one  held  with  the  Field 
Workers,  Saturday  morning,  and  the  subjects  of  introducing  union  work 
and  of  organizing  State  Primary  Departments  made  a  most  profitable 
meeting. 

The  Primary  Workers  of  America  were  well  represented  on  the  Cata- 
lonia, as  the  following  list  of  well-known  workers  indicate.  They  repre- 
sent Unions  or  State  and  Provincial  Primary  departments.  Miss  E.  A. 
Kingman.  Brocton,  Mass.:  Miss  A.  L.  Baker,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  M.  F. 
Bryner,  Chicago, 111. :  Mr.s.  H.  M.  Hamill,  Jack.sonville,  111.;  Rev.  A.  Luciis- 
.Sussex.N.  B.;  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes,  Newark,  N.  J.:  Miss  H.  L.  Shoemaker, 
Bridgetown,  N.  J.:  Mrs.  W.  J.  Semelroth, .St.  Louis,  Mo.;  Israel  P.  Black. 
Philadelphia.  Pa.:  Rev.  Wm.  Shaw,  Ocala,  Florida;  Mrs.  W.  Pearce, 
Las  Vegas,  N.  M.:  W.  B.  Wilson,  Providence,  R.  I.;  Miss  Bertha  F. 
Vella,  Boston,  Mass. ;  Miss  Maizie  Blaikie.  Lynn.  Mass.:  A.  D.  Mason. 
Memphis,  Tenn. :  Rev.  Geo.  O.  Bachman,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

A  number  of  Primary  Lesson- writers  were  in  the  company;  Mr. 
Israel  P.  Black,  of  the  "  Westminster  Teacher  ';  Miss  Maizie  Blaikie. 
of  the  "  Universalist  Helper";  and  Mrs.  W.  J.  Semelroth,  Primary  editor 
of  "  The  International  Evangel,  "  St.  Louis. 

' '  Catalonia  "  Sunday-school. 

On  July  3rd,  the  Catalonia  Sunday-school  was  organized  on  board . 
with  J.  R.  Pepper,  Superintendent:  H.  S.  Conant,  Assistant  Superin- 
tendent: W.  J.  Semelroth,  Secretary:    C.    D.  Meigs,  Treasurer:  E.  K- 

(  9) 


Warren.  Ivibruriaii:  and  li.  Freii  Kstey.  C,'hol•i^sler;  and  the  foUuwint; 
teachers;  Prof.  H.  M.  Hariiill.  Samuel  Yountr,  Alfred  D.  Ma.son,  T.  C. 
Jkehara,  Janies  Edmunds,  J.  H.  Baker,  Mrs.  J.  K.  Sampson.  Daniel  Kiske. 
Mrs.  J.  A.  Linville,  Ucv.  Wm.  Peari-e.  C.  N.  Bently.  Miss  Annie  Gardner. 
Charles  White,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes.  Miss  Bertha  P.  Vella,  and  Mrs. 
Mary  Poster  Bryner.  The  last  three,  with  Miss  \'ella  leadintf,  con- 
ducted the  Primary  department. 

After  the  openinf;  exercises.  Hymns  'i'Zi.  328  and  332.  and  prayers  by 
Rev.  Wm.  Pearce  and  H.  S.  Conant,  the  teachers  took  charge  of  the 
classes  for  a  few  minutes,  marked  the  class  books,  and  were  then  called 
to  order  atrain  by  Superintendent  Pepper.  Professor  H.  M.  Hamill  then 
taught  the  lesson,  ttiviiit,'  an  exhaustive  analysis  and  comprehensive  out- 
line on  the  blackl)oard. 

The  class  collections  were  taken  up,  and  the  Treasurer,  C.  D.  Meig.s, 
appealed  for  a  subscription  for  Mr.  Ikehara's  work  in  Japan.    The  results 
are  shown  in  the  Treasurer's  Report  of  ^^47.1.=)  snbscrit)ed. 
Report  of  the  School  Attendance: 

Oftlcers o 

Teachers 17 

Intermediates . .  72 

Primary 28 

Total 122 

Fourth  of  July. 

The  special  Fourth  of  .July  Committee  was  composed  of  A.  P.  Wil- 
liams, Chairman:  A.  D.  Ma.son.  Miss  Carrie  A.  Bittlny,  Rev.  Wm.  Pearce. 
Miss  Annie  Gardner,  Rev.  J.  S.  Braker,  and  C.  D.  Meigs. 

Captain  Stevens  decorated  the  dataloniu  on  the  Fourth  with  about 
ii  half-hundred  different  kind  of  fliigs.  and  at  night  set  off  (juite  a  lot  of 
tireworks.  During  the  day  games  were  played  and  contests  enjoyed.  In 
the  Potato  Race,  W.  B.  Wilson  won.  In  the  Ladies'  Potato  Race. 
Miss  I.  J.  Milbury  won.  C.  D.  Meigs  sewed  the  best  buttonhole,  and  A. 
D.  Mason  the  next  best.  James  Edmunds  made  the  longest  "Hop,  step 
and  jump."  In  the  Tug  of  War,  Tennessee  beat  Indiana.  A.  D.  Mason 
won  in  walking  under  the  lowest  bar.  and  Miss  Mason  and  Miss  Blaikie 
were  a  tie  on  walking  under  the  bar.  The  Sailors  Tug  of  War  resulted 
in  a  tie,  and  the  p^rse  made  for  them  was  divided  equallv  between  the 
crews. 

In  the  early  afternoon,  appropriate  exercises  were  conducted,  includ- 
ing scripture-reading  and  prayer.  Hon.  A.  1'.  Williams.  Prof.  Hamill. 
Rev.  A.  M.  Hubley.Rev.  A.  Lucas,  and  T.  C.  Ikehara  delivered  interesting 
addresses.  Captain  Stephens  also  spoke  briefly.  "My  country  'tis  of 
thee!  "  was  sung  by  Master  Erling  Stockman, and  afterwards  also  by  the 
audience.  "  God  Save  the  Queen,"  was  sung  as  the  flags  were  raised  and 
■entwined.  Rev.  Wm.  Pearce  read  the  scripture  lesson,  and  Rev.  E.  W. 
Mullens  offered  prayer. 

The  following  witty  poem  was  written  by  Mr.  C.  D.  Meigs.  lOditor  of 
of  "The  Awakener,"  Indianapolis,  and  read  by  him. 

Uncle  Sam  and  His  Mother 
By  Charles  1).  Meigs.  Indi.inapolis.  Ind. 
Editor  of  "  The  Awakener. 

Some  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago. 
When  "  Uncle  Sam  '  was  a  l)oy,  you  know. 
He  and  his  mother  got  into  a  muss. 
That  resulted  in  serious  family  fuss. 

His  mother  had  tried  to  make  him  i)ay 

For  her  support  in  a  liberal  way: 

And  when  he  declared  that  it  was  not  right 

She  concluded  to  spank  him  with  all  her  might. 

So  she  drew  him  across  her  spacious  knee. 
And  applied  her  slipper  so  hard  that  he 
Saw  such  stars  and  felt  such  stripes 
As  gave  him  a  serious  spell  of  the  gripes. 

But  little  Sam  was  a  sturdy  chap, 

So  he  managed  to  slip  from  his  mother's  lap. 

And,  though  black  and  blue  from  his  mothers  shoe. 

He  made  up  his  mind  just  what  he'd  do^ 

(  10) 


He  would  sever  his  mother's  apron-strintr, 
And  show  the  old  ladv  this  one  thing; 
That  INDEPENDENCE  was  in  his  veins. 
And  similar  stuff  was  in  his  brains. 

His  stern  old  mother  was  very  sad. 
And  as  a  matter  of  fact,  she  was  very  mad, 
It  almost  broke  her  dear  old  heart, 
For  her  wayward  son  to  act  so  smart. 

She  mourned  the  day  he  gave  her  the  slip, 
And  showed  that  he  had  grown  too  big  to  whip. 
Hut  such  seemed  the  case:  and  to  tell  the  rest  of  it. 
Would  show  she  decided  to  make  the  best  of  it. 

So  she  gave  him  a  great  big  farm  of  his  own 
(Because  she  couldn't  keep  it),  and  let  him  alone: 
Which  was  just  what  he  wanted,  and.   twixt  you  and  me. 
It  turned  cut  that  it  suited  him  just  to  a  T. 

Well,  time  moved  on,  and  on.  and  on. 
And  kept  on  moving  just  right  along. 
Then  moved  some  more  and  kept  on  still. 
A-moving  along,  as  time  always  will. 

•JMeantime,  Uncle  Sam  was  doing  his  best 
On  his  great  big  farm  far  oft  to  the  West; 
His  fields  were  so  fruitful,  his  crops  were  so  great, 
That  it  would  take  a  smart  man  to  exaggerate 
The  quantity,  quality,  value  and  taste 
Of  the  produce  he  raised  on  that  farm  in  the  West. 

While  his  flocks  and  his  herds— well,  permit  me  to  state. 
Are  entirely  too  numerous  to  enumerate. 
And  to  this  truthful  statement  let  us  whisper  another — 
He's  been  shipping  his  surplus  back  to  his  mother! 

Of  course  she  pays  for  it  well,  as  she  should, 
But  she  doesn't  object,  for  she  owns  it  tastes  good: 
And,  if  pressed  tor  an  answer.  I  think  she'd  admit 
That  it  tastes  all  the  better  cause  Sammy  raised  it. 

And  it's  beginning  to  seem,  if  we  draw  it  quite  mild. 
That  old  mother  is  feeling  quite  proud  of  her  child. 
And  Sammy 'r    Well  Sammy  is  full  to  the  brim. 
And  as  proud  of  his  mammy  as  she  is  of  him. 

And  I  have  a  notion  as  big  as  the  ocean. 
That  the  first  thing  you  know,  this  mutual  devotion 
Will  lead  Uncle  Sam  and  his  venerable  mother 
To  right  otit  in  public  embrace  one  another! 

For  when,  in  the  course  of  events,  cruel  Spain 
l^ermitted  some  villain  to  blow  up  the  Maine, 
And  trouble  grew  out  of  it,  ever.v  one  knows 
The  attitude  Mammy  took  toward  Sammj''.s  foes. 

And  the  very  same  slipper  which  once  felt  so  bad 
Is  the  identical  slipper  which  now  makes  him  glad: 
For  mother  won't  use  it  on  Sammy  again, 
But,  if  occasion  requires,  she'll  use  it  on  Spain. 

And  so  it  all  happens  that  you  and  that  I 
Are  invited  to  celebrate  Fourth  of  July 
Aboard  British  vessel,  amid  British  crew— 
And  the  Captain  will  furnish  the  fireworks  too! 

And  we  have  a  flag  raising,  the  two  flags  combined, 
•  Union  Jack  "  and  "  Old  Glory  "  together  entwined. 
O  long  may  they  wave  in  the  breezes  together. 
In  sunshine  and  shadow,  in  fair  and  foul  weather. 
And  whenever,  on  land  and  on  sea,  they're  unfurled — 
May  they  preach  the  good  gospel  of  peace  to  the  world 
And  goodwill  to  all  men. 

The  Social  Committee. 

The  Social  Committee  consisted  of  Rev.  S.  T.  Ford.  Chairman.  Dr. 
R.  S.  Stanley.  H.  M.  Bruen.  Miss  Helen  M.  Humphrey,  and  Miss  Mary 

(  11  > 


K.  Schelky.  ThisConiinillee  interested  quite  :i  numl)er  in  their  deijart- 
ment,  and  abundant  entertainment  was  afforded  the  delej^ales.  Amonj; 
the  special  features  were  a  spelling  match,  a  mock  trial,  conundrum 
social,  firand  concert,  and  the  "Catalonia  Jubilee  Sinfrers"  givinj,'  an 
evening  of  .Southern  songs  and  humor.  Prof  Hamill,  A.  O.  Mason.  Miss 
Mason,  C.  H.  Warren,  Mr.  Uruen.  and  Mrs  .Semelroth  rendered  valuable 
service  in  these  entertainments.  Miss  I.  J.  Milbury  and  Miss  Bertha  I. 
Collins  give  fine  recitations,  and  Kev.  C.  T.  Hayliss  an  interesting  reading. 
Mr.  C.  H.  Warren  gave  two  sleight-of-hand  performances  that  entertained 
and  mystified  everybody.  Among  those  who  gave  the  grand  concert 
were  Mrs.  H.  W.  Watjen.  Mrs  W.  J.  Semclrotli.  Miss  Elizabeth  Masoti. 
and  Mr.  McCubl)age.  Dr.  C.  H.  Spaulding,  Kev.  W.  P.  Landers,  Rev.  C. 
T.  Bayliss,  Miss  Hertha  1  Collins,  and  Miss  I.  J.  Milbury.  gave  fine  read- 
ings and  recitations.  The  "Catalonia  Jubilee  -Singers"  who  gave  the 
.Southern  songs  and  humor  were  Prof  Hamill.  C.  H.  Warren.  A.  D. 
Mason.  Mr.  Bruen,  W.  H  Wilson,  Miss  Elizabeth  Mason,  and  Mrs.  W.  J. 
Semelroth.  All  felt  indebted  to  these  friends  for  the  splendid  entertain- 
ments they  provided. 

Another  feature  that  was  evidently  enjoyed  was  the  two  editions  of 
the  "International  Evangel,"  issued  on  shipboard  by  the  editor  at  the  re- 
((uest  of  the  World's  E.xecutive  Committee.  There  was  much  literary 
talent  in  the  company  of  delegates  and  the  numerous  contributions  made 
the.se  manuscript  editions  (luite  spicy  and  interesting.  They  were  read 
in  the  social  meetings  in  the  evening.  Among  the  good  things  con- 
tributed was  the  following  poem  by  Miss  Shoemaker: 

The    Wail    of    the    Woeful. 

Dediatted  to  the  MaUonleHlx. 

By  Miss  Harhikt  I.,.  Shdkmakku 

My  country,   tis  of  thee. 
Steaming  along  at  sea. 

For  thee  I  sigh! 
Land  of  the  solid  ground. 
Land  where  no  smells  abound. 
Land  where  no  fog-horns  sound. 

For  thee  I  die! 

How  can  the  cheerful  smile: 
How  can  they  time  beguile': 

Would  I  were  home! 
What  are  their  joys  to  me': 
.steaming  along  at  sea. 
Woeful  as  I  can  be. 

Why  did  I  come': 

Afire  at  Sea. 

A  thousand  miles  from  land,  and  no  other  ship  in  sight!  First  a 
slight  odor  of  .something  burning  in  the  hold,  then  smoke  begins  to  come 
up.  The  captain's  whistle  is  sounded,  that  quickly  summons  the  crew  to 
duty  as  firemen.  The  response  is  instant;  every  man  at  his  post.  Some 
run  the  hose  to  the  hold,  as  dense  volumes  of  smoke  pour  out:  and  others 
begin  at  the  pump,  to  send  air  down  to  the  brave  seamen  who  are  lowered 
into  the  hold.  The  tight  for  life  is  begun.  For  five  long  hours  there  is  an 
exhibition  of  bravery,  of  skill,  of  discipline.'such  as  is  seldom  seen.  The 
smoke  grows  more  dense;  the  tire  is  gaining,  and  its  source  is  not  yet 
reached!  These  are  moment.s  of  anxiety.  All  canvas  and  ropes  are  re- 
moved out  of  the  way  of  the  life-boats.  All  is  silence  except  as  the 
captain's  orders  are  heard  in  rapid  succession.  The  men  arc  hurrying 
to  and  fro.  but  in  perfect  order;  the  discipline  is  superb.  No  one  speaks, 
but  all  obey:  skill  and  discipline  are  telling  on  the  fire. 

What  of  the  passengers':  They  are  Cliristians:  they  believe  in  God 
upon  the  waters  the  same  as  on  the  land.  Quietly  the  word  is  passed 
about.  "The  ship  is  on  fire!"  Many  quickly  but  noiselessly  gather  on 
the  upper  deck  overlooking  the  struggle,  out  of  which  shall  come  life  or 
death.  How  strange!  .Scarcely  anyone  speaks,  nor  does  fear  appear.  It 
is  faith  triumphant.  Trust,  simple  trust!  Husbands  and  wives  clasp 
hands  tighter,  fathers  and  mothers  gather  their  lovedonesclo.se!  Par 
down  at  the  other  end  of  the  ship,  husbands  and  friends  are  keeplngclo.se 
vigil  over  dear  ones  who  are  sleeping,  fearing  to  waken  and  frighten, 
them,  yet  ready  to  act  if  the  crisis  comes. 

(  12  I 


While  the  brave  anil  yet  uncertain  stru^Kle  goes  on  down  on  the 
lower  deck,  from  the  brave  company  of  God's  own  on  the  upper  deck 
there  is  wafted  out  the  soothing;  hymn,  and  then  all  is  silent  again  that 
every  order  may  be  distinctly  heard.  For  hours  we  watch.  Soon  there 
is  hoisted  up  and  overboard  the  first  bale  of  burning  cotton,  and  we 
know  the  fire  is  reached,  and  we  trust  in  God  and  the  faithful  crew  to  ex- 
tinguish it.  Thus  assured,  again  we  sing  "  Praise  God  from  whom  all 
blessings  How,  "  and  follow  it  with  thanksgiving  to  God,  and  three  hearty 
■cheers  for  the  crew  of  the  Catalonia. 

Bale  after  bale  of  burning  cotton  comes  up  as  we  watch  until  it  be- 
gins to  be  toward  morning.  The  tire  had  already  begun  on  the  ship  itself, 
but  the  compartment  is  flooded,  the  flames  are  put  out,  the  smoke  dies 
away,  the  whole  cargo  of  cotton  is  hoisted  and  piled  on  deck.  Then  we 
go  down  below  and  see  how  narrow  was  our  escape  from  going  down  at 
sea.  Those  in  the  flooded  and  smoked  state  rooms  are  taken  out  and 
made  as  comfortable  as  possible  in  other  places,  and  just  before  dawn 
we  lie  down  to  try  to  rest  a  bit. 

God  is  good.  Thursday  morning  is  at  hand,  and  the  hour  of  the 
morning  prayer  meeting  is  here.  This  time  the  cabin  will  not  hold  all 
who  would  attend  and  join  in  the  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  God,  for  His 
care  over  us.  About  $300  are  (luickly  contributed,  and  later  distributed 
to  the  crew  as  a  slight  token  of  appreciation  of  their  brave  and  skilful 
work  that  saved  our  lives.  The  day  is  beautiful,  and  full  of  praise;  the 
good  ship  sails  on  and  on;  we  are  nearing  the  farther  shore.  Some  day 
we  shall  perhaps  know  our  Fathers  purpose  in  this  experience.  It,  at 
least,  brought  all  nearer  to  God.  None  who  were  there  will  ever  forget 
the  night  of  July  6.  In  the  years  to  come  the  story  will  be  told,  and  old 
men  and  old  women  then  shall  say,  "I  was  there."  and  they  will  recall 
how  the  captain  commended  the  passengers  for  their  quiet  behavior, 
that  none  of  the  crew  were  required  to  take  care  of  fear-stricken  persons, 
and  so  could  all  t)e  kept  at  the  tire. 

Surely  those  who  came  on  the  ('ataloiiiu  must  feel  a  new  sense  of 
consecration  to  our  IVIaster,  and,  feeling  that  they  have  been  "  saved  to 
serve,"  will  ask  as  never  before.  "Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?" 
Out  of  the  tire  cometh  the  pure  gold. 

Tribute  to  the  Crew 

After  the  tire  the  feelings  of  the  passengers  found  expression  in  the 
following  paper,  which  was  adopted  and  delivered  to  Captain  Thomas 
•Stephens,  and  a  copy  sent  to  the  Cunard  Steamship  Company,  and  in  the 
gift  of  the  purse  of  about  $300  to  the  crew  of  the  Catalonia.  The  entire 
ship's  company  assembled  on  the  aft  decks,  where  the  expression  was 
read  to  Captain  .Stephens  and  he  briefly  responded.  Then  the  entire 
ship's  crew  filed  past  the  table,  where  Mrs.  Hamill  and  Mrs.  Bryner 
handed  them  tickets  good  for  two  dollars  each,  to  be  received  from  the 
purser,  with  whom  the  money  was  deposited.  It  was  a  scene  long  to  be 
remembered  as  the  sailors  passed  by  and  were  cheered  by  the  whole 
company.    The  paper  is  as  follows:  — 

On  board  the  Catalonia,  July  7.  1898. 
To  Captain  Thomas  Stephens  and  the  Officers  and  Crew  of  the  steam- 
ship Catalonia. 
Dear  Sir  and  Gentlemen:  — 

The  hearts  of  all  the  passengers  of  the  steamship  Catalonia  are 
moved,  in  the  profoundest  gratitude,  to  tender  to  you,  and  to  all  the 
officers  of  your  ship,  and  to  all  the  crew  under  your  command,  the  sin- 
cerest  expression  of  their  recognition  of  their  deliverance  from  the  peril 
of  fire  on  the  night  of  July  sixth,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-eight.  We 
know  we  owe  more  than  we  can  tell  or  ever  repay  to  the  coolness,  the 
fidelity  and  the  valiant  service  of  all.  We  would  not  fail  to  honor  each 
to  whom  honor  belongs.  But  you.  sir.  will  always  have  the  warmest 
place  in  our  affection  and  in  our  remembrance,  for  your  own  assuring 
presence,  yo'  r  occasional  words  of  confidence  and  your  ceaseless  recog- 
nition of  your  great  and  grave  responsibility.  We  are  sure  you  feel  with 
us  all  thiit  an  invisible  Hand  was  upon  the  helm  of  your  gallant  ship, 
which  sailed  so  steadily  on,  and  that  we  honor  the  presence  of  Him  "who 
was  known  in  storms  to  sail.  '  A  finer  exhibition  of  skill  and  discipline 
could  not  have  been  witnessed,  and  we  were  all  calm  in  the  confidence 
your  discipline  inspired.  This  memorial  is  an  expression  all  too  feeble 
of  the  gratitude  every  lip  would  love  to  speak,  and  which  every  heart 
most  tenderly  feels.  A.  B.  McCrillis.  C.  H.  Spauldinc. 

H.  M.  Hamii.l,  J.  R.  Pepper. 

H.    S.   CONANT. 
(  13  » 


"Catalonia"    Resolutions. 

At  the  farewell  meeting  on  the  Culalonia,  Mr.  C.  D.  Meig.s.  Chairman, 
B^  K.  Warren,  and  H.  C.  Groves,  as  a  Committee  on  Resolutions,  re- 
ported the  following,  which  was  unanimously  adopted;  — 

Whekkas:  Mr.  W.  N.  Hartshorn,  of  Boston,  chairman  of  the  Trans- 
portation Committee,  has,  for  more  than  a  year,  been  devoting  much 
time— and,  for  the  past  six  months,  has  been  almost  incessant  in  his 
efforts— to  makt'  complete  and  satisfactory  arrangements  for  this  voyage 
to  London,  to  the  World's  Third  .Sunday  School  Convention,  even  slight- 
ing his  own  business  interests  to  such  an  extent  as  to  prevent  him  from 
attending  the  Convention  himself,  therefore  he  it 

Renolred:  That  the  Kxccutive  Conimiltee  in  particular  and  all  the 
delegates  in  general  acknowledge  their  obligation  to  Mr.  Hartshorn,  and 
with  the  appreciation  of  his  untiring  labor,  hereby  extend  to  him  our 
sincerest  thanks  for  all  he  has  done  so  well,  and  keenly  regret  his  ina- 
bility to  be  present  with  us  on  board  the  Ca/alonia. 

Resolved:  That  our  thanks  are  due,  and  are  hereby  tendered  to 
Messrs.  Biglow  and  Main,  publishers,  for  200  copies  of  their  new  and 
most  excellent  Song  Book  "Church  Hymns  and  Gospel  Songs,"  kindly 
donated  to  the  delegates,  for  use  on  board  the  Catalonia. 

ReKolred:  That  we  tender  our  sincere  thanks  to  the  Estey  Organ 
Company  for  the  generous  loan  of  a  tine  organ,  for  use  on  ship  board, 
which  added  so  much  to  the  pleasure  of  the  trip. 

Reaolved;  That  our  thanks  are  also  due,  and  are  hereby  tendered,  to 
Messrs.  W.  A.  Wilde  &  Co..  of  Boston  and  Chicago,  for  the  generous 
donation  of  a  number  of  good  books  for  the  pleasure  and  profit  of  the 
delegates 

Resolred:  That  we  extend  a  sincere  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Rev. 
Warren  P.  I^anders  for  his  very  polite  and  courteous  attention  shown  to 
all  of  us  at  all  times  during  this  voyage  with  reference  to  baggage,  trans- 
portation, hotel  and  other  accommodations. 

Rexolred:  That  our  voyage  has  been  a  most  delightful  one,  and  that 
we  are  much  indebted  to  the  many  persons  who  have  served  faithfully 
and  well  on  all  the  various  committees  appointed  to  arrange  for  devo- 
tional and  social  meetings  and  entertainments.  To  all  such  per.sons  we 
lender  a  sincere  vote  of  thank.s,  and  pray  God"s  blessing  upon  them  all. 

News  from  Home. 

Karly  on  the  morning  of  July  SKh.  we  anchored  ofl'  Queeustown  and 
the  boats  came  out  for  the  mail.  We  had  been  ten  days  without  any 
news  from  America,  and  great  was  the  crush  of  the  delegates  to  the  side 
of  the  Catalonia  to  get  a  newspaper  from  the  Queenstown  boat.  But 
before  the  new.sboy  could  board  our  ship,  a  man  called  to  us:  "Cerveras 
fleet  entirely  captured  and  destroyed  with  the  loss  of  but  one  American.  " 
and  the  scramble  for  copies  of  Queenstown  papers  can  better  be  imagined 
than  described.  The  two  small  lighters  or  mail  steamers  were  named 
respectively  "Ireland"'  and  "America."  One  small  party  of  delegates 
rode  on  the"  "Ireland"  over  to  another  steamship,  the  Lucania.  and  the 
remainder  of  the  way  into  Qiieenstown  on  the  "America." 

The  Liverpool  Meetings. 
As  the  f;«/'rt/6i//(V<  was  late,  the  American  delegates  spent  Sunday  at 
Liverpool,  and  several  of  them  spoke  in  two  or  three  meetings.  In  a 
large  mass  meeting  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  hall,  in  the  evening.  Dr.  Spaulding, 
T.  C.  Ikehara.  C.  D.  Meigs,  and  Rev.  L.  B.  Maxwell  gave  good  addresses. 
Rev.  A.  Lucas,  H.  S.  Conant.  and  Miss  M.  Blaikie  spoke  in  the  Mens 
Meeting  in  (ireat  George  Congregational  t^iapel,  at  the  request  of  Pastor 
Nut  tall.  There  were  1,500  men  present.  Rev.  A.  Lucas  preached  in 
the  same  place  in  the  evening.  All  the  meetings  were  well  received  and 
evidently  en.ioyed  by  the  people  of  Liverpool. 

Arrival  at  London. 

The  Catalonia  was  expected  to  reach  Liverpool  Saturday  morning 
so  the  American  delegation  could  reach  London  that  day.  But  the  ship 
did  not  reach  Liverpool  until  early  Sunday  morning,  so  the  Americans 
spent  Sunday  in  Liverpool.  Monday  morning  the  train  was  taken  on  the 
I.,ondon  and  Northwestern  Railwav.  and  the  delegation  reached  London 
shortly  before  noon,  July  1 1th,  1H98.  After  getting  located  in  various 
hotels' the  delegates  hastened  to  the  famous  Sunday-school  headquarters 
f)6  Old  Bailey,  where  they  were  registered  and  given  programs  and 
badges  by  Mr.  J.  K.  fJddiard  and  his  corps  of  obliging  co-workers. 

(  14  I 


World's  Third  Sunday-school  Convention. 


Indexed  PrograiMme. 


Monday  Afternoon,  July  11th. 
4  P.M.    Reception  of  Delegates  by  the  Committee  of  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society,  at  the  Bible  House,  146  Queen  Victoria  Street. 
London.  pp.  !-!♦> 

Monday  Evening.  July  11th. 
7  P.M.     Reception  of  Dele^'-aies  by   the   Lord   Mayor  of  London  in   the 
Mansion  House pp.  16-'.;(> 

Opening  of  the  Convention. 

FiKsT  Session.  Tuesday  Afternoon.  July  12th. 
9 :20  A.M.  Praise  and  Prayer— Roll  Call  of  Dele^'ates— Addresses  of  Wel- 
come by  The  Most  Noble  Marquis  of  Northampton  (President  of 
the  Sunday-school  LTnion),  Mr.  Edward  Towers  (Chairman  of  the 
World's  Convention  Committee  in  London),  and  the  Rev.  John 
Clifford,  M.A.,  LL.B.,  B.Sc  D.D.— Responses:  For  America,  Rev. 
Dr.  Spauldinti  (United  States):  the  Hon.  S.  H.  Blake  (Canada);  for 
Australasia,  Mr.  Stocks:  for  Europe,  Professor  Fetzer  and  Count 
Bernstorff  (Germany):  Pastor  Truve  (Sweden);  for  Asia,  Bishop 
Thoburn  (India):  for  Africa.  Rev.  W.  H.  Richards  (Kimberley. 
South  Africa)— Election  of  Ofticers  and  Appointment  of  Commit- 
tees  pp.  20-48. 

The  Work  Reported. 

Second  Session,  Tuesday  Afternoon.  July  12th. 

2  p.m.  Song  Service— The  Work  Reported:  The  Continent  of  Europe. 
Mr.  J.  T.  Holmes  (Hon.  Sec.  Sunday-school  Union  Continental 
Mission):  Rev.  Henry  Collins  Woodruff  (United  States);  Japan. 
Mr.  T.  C.  Ikehara  (International  Field  Worker  for  Japan):  India, 
the  Rev.  Richard  Buries  (Indian  Sunday  School  Missionary) :  Nor- 
way. Dr.  J.  Heimbeck:  Italy,  Dr.  Burt pp.  49-73 

Third  Session,  Tuesday  Evening,  July  12th. 

P.M.  Song  Service— Reports  Continued:  Canada,  Rev.  Aquila,  Luca.s 
(New  Brunswick):  United  States,  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs.  (CSiairman  of 
the  International  Sunday-school  Executive  Committee):  The  Col- 
ored People  of  the  Southern  States,  Rev.  L.  B.  Maxwell:  The 
British  Isles.  Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (Chairman  Sunday-school  Union 
Council^. pp.  71-97 

Grand  Sunday-school  Demonstration  at  the  Crystal  Palace. 

Fourth  session,  Wednesday  Morning,  July  13th. 

10:30  A.M.  Primary  Unions  and  Summer  Schools:  Mr.  Israel  P.  Black 
(Sec.  of  International  Primary  Union  of  U.  S.  A.)— Class  or  De- 
partmental Manatfement:  Miss  Bertha  Vella  (Massachusetts, 
U.S.A.)— Teaching;  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes  (U.S.A.)— Questions  and 
Answers:  Mrs.  W.  J.  Semelroth  (St  Louis.  U.S.A.)— Infant  Class 
Lesson:  Miss  Kevworth  (  London. )— Blackboard  Demonstrations; 
Mr.  Arthur  (Glasgow).  Mr.  E.  J.  Witchell  (London).  Mr.  F.  F.  Bel- 
sey (London).  Mr.  A.  W.  Webster  (London).  pp.  98-12(i 

Fifth  Session,  Wednesday  Afternoon.  July  13th. 

1  P.M.  Concert  by  5,000  Junior  Scholars  on  the  Handel  Orchestra.  Con- 
ductor, Mr.  J.  Rowley p.  127 

4  P.M.  Concert  by  4.000  Senior  Scholars  and  Adults.  Conductor.  Mr. 
W.  P.  Hunter p.  127 

(  l.T  ) 


Sixth  Session,  Wednesday  Kvenin(;.  .July  13th. 

•5  P.M.  Delegates'  Tea;  Short  Addresses:  Concert  by  Polytechnic  and 
People's  Palace  Mandoline  Band.  Conductor.  Mr.  H.  M.  Jenkins. 
pp.  129-134 

The  Work  Examined. 

Skventh  Session,  Thursday  Mornini;,  July  Hth. 

•if.'^'O  .\.M.  Praise  and  Prayer— Report  of  the  International  Lesson  Com- 
mittee— The  Uniform  Sunday  School  Lesson  System:  Rev.  Dr. 
Potts  (Chairman  of  the  International  Lesson  Committeei— The 
International  Lesson  System:  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  G.  Green  (London)— 
Daily  Bible  Reading  Associations;  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Mills  (London). 

pp.  135-155 

Convention  Sermon. 

12. (X)  noon.    Convention  Sermon  by  Dr.  Joseph  Parker  (City  Temple) 

pp.  155-160 

The  Sunday-school. 

Eighth  Session,  Thursday  Afternoon,  July  Wtn. 

2  P.M.  Song  Service— Grading  and  Management:  Mr.  P.  H.  Bristow 
U.S.A.)— The  Superintendent:  Mr.  J.  R.  Pepper  (Memphis, Tenn., 
U.S.A.)— The  Home  Department:  Mr.  M.  C.  Hazard,  Ph.D.  (U.S.A.) 
Bible  Study  at  Home;  the  Rev.  Prof.  W.  T.  Davison,  D.D.  (Wes- 
leyan  College,  Handsworth,  Birmingham)— Bible  Study  in  a  Prep- 
aration Class:  Mr.  W.  H.  Groser.  B.Sc.  (Hon.  Sec.  Sunday-school 
Union) pp.  162-189 

The  Book,   The  Teacher,  The  Child. 

Ninth  Session,  Thursday  Evening,  July  14th. 

-5  P.M.  Song  Service— The  Bible:  Bishop  Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.D., 
(Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  U.S. A.) —Teaching:  Rev.  Geo. 
Parkin.  M.A.,  B. D.  Principal,  Primitive  Methodist  College,  Man- 
chester)—The  Child:    Professor  Hamill:  Rev.  Canon  Fleming,  B.D. 

pp.  190-206 

The  Work  Extended 

Tenth  Session,  Friday  Morning,  July  15th. 

.9  20  a.m.  Prayer  and  Praise— The  Office  and  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit: 
Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  B.A.  (London)— Extension  of  the  Work  in  Vari- 
ous Lands:  Mr.  Jackson  (Melbourne,  Victoria)— OrKani/.ed  Sunday 
school  Work  in  America:     Mr.  C.  D.  Meijrs  (Indiana).       pp.  207-229 

Sunday  School  Training. 

Eleventh  .Skssion,  Friday  afternoon,  July  1.5th. 
-2  P.M.    Song  Service— Normal  Classes  and  Institutes:    Mr.   A.   Sindall 
(S.S.U.    Council):    American    Normal  Classes:    Professor  H.   M. 
Hamill   (Illinois)  —  Resolutions  —  Summer  Training    Schools  for 
Primary  Work:  Mrs.  W.  J.  Semelroth  (St.  Louis.  T^.S.A.) 

pp.  230-249 

Great  Public  Meeting. 

Twelfth  Session,  Friday  Evening,  July  i.ith. 

♦5  30  P.M.    Musical  Selections— Addresses  by  the  Most  Noble   Marquis 

of  Northampton;  the  Hon.  S.  H.  Blake  (Canada);  Bishop  Thoburn 

(India);  Rev.  Aquila  Lucas  (Canada);  Count  Bernstorff  (Germany); 

Professor  Hamill.  U.S.A.:  Rev.  J.  D.  Lamont  (Ireland)     pp.  279-295 

Saturday,  July  16th. 
9  A.M.    Walking    and    Driving    Excursions    to    Places    of    Interest    in 

London p.  295 

P.M.    Garden  Reception  of  Delegates  by  Evan  Spicer,  Esq.,  J.  P.,  and 
Mrs.  Spicer,  in  the  Grounds  of  "  Belair,  "  Dulwich.  .    p.  296 

(  16  ) 


THE  WORLD'S  THIRD 
SUNDAY   SCHOOL   CONVENTION. 


PEELIMINARY  MEETINGS. 


RECEPTION  OF  DELEGATES   BY   THE  BEITISH 
AND   FOREIGN   BIBLE   SOCIETT. 

In  tlie  afternoon  of  Monday,  July  11th,  a  reception  was  lield  by  the 
Committee  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  at  the  Bible 
House,  li6,  Queen  Victoria  Street,  London,  E.C.,  at  which  upwards  of 
400  of  the  delegates  were  present.  Liglit  refreshments  had  been 
provided,  and  after  partaking  of  these  the  delegates  were  conducted 
over  the  building  through  the  warehouses,  where  were  stored  copies 
of  the  Bible  in  the  many  translations  issued  by  the  Society.  The 
only  printing  done  on  the  premises  was  also  shown  in  operation ; 
namely,  the  printing  for  the  blind  in  raised  typo  in  Bell's  system  of 
various  portions  of  the  Scripture.  In  the  Library  were  gathered 
together  the  Society's  unique  collection  of  the  various  printed  versions 
of  the  Scriptures  from  the  earliest  date,  as  well  as  MS.  copies  of  the 
Bible  and  palimpsests,  whicii  were  inspected  with  the  greatest  interest. 
Another  room  was  devoted  to  an  exhibition  of  the  340  versions  of  the 
Scriptures,  in  as  many  languages  and  dialects,  which  are  published  by 
the  Society. 

A  meeting  was  afterwards  held  in  the  Library.  It  had  been 
announced  that  Lord  Kinnaird  -would  preside,  but  he  was  prevented 
from  attending,  and  the  chair  was  taken  by  Mr.  Caleb  E.  Kemp, 
Cliairman  of  Committees  of  the  Bible  Society. 

The  Rev.  John  Sharp  read  a  portion  of  Holy  Scripture  from  the 
10th  chapter  of  John,  14th  verse,  to  the  21st  verse.  He  then  led  the 
meeting  in  prayer. 

The  Chairman  :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  and  Christian  friends, — It 
is  my  pleasant  duty  this  afternoon  in  the  name  of  the  Committee  and 
friends  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  to  give  you  the 
heartiest  welcome  possible  to  this  house.     May  1  venture  to  say  also 

B 


2  World's  Third 

to  those  whu  arc  here,  wc  were  expecting  that  the  meeting  this  after- 
noon would  have  been  presided  over  by  a  man  whose  name  is  well 
known  in  all  i)arts  of  the  world  and  identified  with  Christian  work  and 
with  the  well-being  of  his  fellowmen.  I  mean  Lord  Kinnaird.  I  have 
to  apologise  for  his  Lordship.  I  have  reecived  a  nute  from  him, 
portions  of  which  I  will  read.  It  says,  "  I  am  grievcid  to  say  my 
partner  has  just  died,  and  as  I  have  to  attend  the  funeral  on 
Monday  I  cannot,  I  fear,  possibly  get  back  for  the  reception.  AVill 
you  please  express  to  the  delegates  my  great  regret  that  I  cannot  be 
present  to  welcome  them  ?  I  hope  the  Convention  may  be  a  season  of 
blessing  to  all  taking  part  in  it.  If  I  get  back  before  the  meeting  is 
over  I  will  come  in.  Yours  very  truly,  Kinxaikd."  The  letter  is 
addressed  to  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Watt. 

It  is  a  very  interesting  feature  of  tlie  present  day  -wliich  the 
facilities  for  travelling  promote  that  wc  can  have  on  various 
subjects  these  world-wide  conventions,  but  we  can  hardly  imagine 
any  event  of  more  interest  or  of  more  sterling  value  to  the 
peoples  of  the  world  than  one  in  connection  with  Sunday  schools. 
It  is  a  sign  of  the  times,  these  conventions,  and  it  is  a  sign  of  our 
age  that  people  are  voluntarily  interesting  themselves  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  young  and  endeavouring  to  train  them  in  rectitude  of 
conduct  and  in  scriptural  knowledge,  and  altogether  to  bring  them 
early  under  the  influence  of  the  Church.  For  many  years  I  have  been 
the  unworthy  president  of  the  Sunday  school  in  my  neighbourhood, 
and  it  was  with  very  great  pleasure  that  I  used  to  distribute  prizes  to 
the  young  people  and  to  the  best  of  my  poor  ability  address  them 
upon  the  interests  of  the  Sunday  school.  And  I  want  that  the  dele- 
gates who  are  here  this  afternoon  should  feel  that  in  meeting  the 
committee  and  friends  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  they 
are  in  every  respect  uniting  friends  and  co-workers  in  the  great  cause 
of  morality  and  religion.  We  welcome  you  most  heartily.  We  desire 
that  the  Lord's  blessing  may  rest  on  your  Convention.  We  desire  that 
the  blessing  may  be  very  rich,  that  it  may  go  into  all  the  districts 
represented  by  you.  We  desire  that  what  you  receive  at  this  Con- 
vention may  be  as  a  stimulus  to  you  to  press  forward,  if  it  may  be, 
with  increasing  earnestness  in  seeking  in  your  department  the  welfare 
of  the  young.  We  have  opened  to  you  the  treasures  of  this  house. 
We  value  the  books  in  this  lilirary  and  the  vei"sions  very  much,  and 
■we  think  they  are  fraught  with  the  deepest  interest.  But  I  confess 
that  when  I  meet  companies  such  as  this  it  always  seems  to  me  that 
the  greatest  interest  in  connection  with  this  house  is  the  work  that  is 
carried  on  here.  And  I  think  I  shall  not  be  misunderstood  in  attribut- 
ing that  which  is  passing  in  the  minds  of  many  delegates  if  I  say  I 
think  it  is  the  work  connected  with  this  house  which  is  perhaps  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  you. 

We  have  now  between  300  and  400  versions  of  Holy  Scriptm-e, 
and  our  object  is,  as  you  know,  to  place  tho  Scriptures  in  the  hands 
of   the   peoples   of   the   world   in   the   tongues   of   the   people.      It 


Sunday  School  Convention.  3 

seems  to  me  that  it  is  a  very  blessed  work.  At  the  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  people  heard  in  their  own 
tongues  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  We  are  seeking  to  carry  His 
message,  written  and  printed,  into  the  common  tongues  of  the  people. 
But  there  are  various  departments  of  the  work.  We  sell,  and  we  sell 
largely,  editions  of  the  Books  of  Holy  Scripture  in  many  countries  of 
the  world.  It  is  a  very  important  department  of  our  business.  Wo 
do  not  give  the  Scriptures  away.  We  sell  them,  reducing  the  cost,  it 
is  true.  We  sell  them  under  cost  price.  But  we  think  that  it  is 
much  better  for  the  peoj^le  to  purchase  them  than  to  be  a  free  gift. 
They  are  more  likely  to  prize  that  for  which  they  pay  something. 
Then  we  distribute  very  largely  through  the  missionary  societies. 
All  the  missionary  societies  who  come  to  us  have  their  Scriptures  free, 
and  we  only  ask  them  to  return  to  us  that  which  they  receive  for  the 
sale  of  them.  And  we  supply  very  largely  to  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  the  Wesleyan 
Missionary  Society,  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  to  a  considerable 
extent,  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  others.  I  make  a  little 
exception  with  regard  to  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  because,  as 
we  all  know,  they  have  a  Bible  Society  in  a  certain  form  of  their  own. 
Now  we  have  working  also  in  the  world  of  course  other  Bible  societies. 
There  is  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  National  Society  of  Scotland, 
and  I  apprehend  that  many  of  my  Presbyterian  friends  here  are 
drawing  their  Scriptures  from  the  National  Society  of  Scotland,  and  I 
am  sure  that  there  are  very  many  here  who  are  drawing  from  the 
American  Bible  Society.  A  large  portion  of  our  work  is  supjilying 
Sunday  schools  with  Scri^Dtures.  We  endeavour  to  live  on  the  most 
brotherly  terms  we  can,  they  ought  to  be  brotherly  to  the  highest 
degree,  with  all  other  Bible  societies,  and  we  very  often  apportion 
certain  districts  in  which  each  may  work.  We  desire  that  the  Lord's 
blessing  may  rest  upon  our  brother  societies  and  upon  our  own.  We 
desire  that  we  may  work  harmoniously  in  this  great  and  grand  work 
of  giving  the  Scriptures  to  the  peoi^le.  And  I  am  sure,  my  friends, 
there  ought  not  to  be  the  slightest  jealousy  whatever  upon  the  part  of 
any  religious  society  with  regard  to  the  progress  of  the  work  of  another. 
It  seems  to  me  that  if  we  are  putting  our  societies  and  tlie  glory  of 
our  own  interests  in  the  place  of  that  honour  which  we  should  give  to 
the  Master,  we  are  clouding  our  work.  I  long  that  we  may  get  above 
all  sectarian  diiferences  as  we  survey  the  great  work  of  propagating 
the  Gospel  in  various  ways  throughout  the  world,  not  that  we  should 
lose  personally  our  denominational  inclinations  and  preferences.  I 
have  mine  and  you  have  yours.  But  they  seem  to  me  to  j^ale  before 
that  bright  and  glorious  luminant,  that  of  spreading  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  world,  that  of  bring- 
ing sinners  to  Christ  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  the  building  up  of 
our  most  hol]^  faith.  Now  I  do  not  think  that  I  need  detain  this  very 
interesting  company  longer.  I  will  again  say  that  we  bid  yon  the 
heartiest  possible  welcome,  and  desire  that  God's  blessing  may  rest 

B  2 


4  World's  Third 

on  your  work  and  on  you.    I  will  ask  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wright  to  address 
you. 

Eev.  Dr.  Wkight  :  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — I 
should  like  to  renew  the  welcome  of  this  Society  to  you,  delegates  from 
all  parts  of  the  world.  You  have  had  a  welcome  given  you  in  English 
— that  imperfect  instrument — hut  as  an  Irishman  I  extend  to  you 
the  cead  miUe  f<  althe'ol  my  country — "a  hundred  thoiisand  welcomes." 
Ladies  and  gentlemen,  our  blessed  Lord  among  the  many  discoveries 
that  He  made  in  His  revelations,  not  only  revealed  the  heart  of  God 
to  man,  but  He  revealed  childhood  to  the  world.  He  placed  a  little 
child  in  the  midst,  and  from  that  day  to  this  the  child  has  been  in 
the  midst.  It  is  in  the  midst  of  the  churcii,  it  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
family,  it  is  in  the  midst  of  society,  it  is  in  the  midst  of  our  poetry, 
and  of  our  literature,  and  of  romance ;  and  you  and  the  child  are 
placed  in  the  midst,  and  it  is  expected  of  you  that,  as  character 
propagators,  you  will  propagate  your  character  in  the  cliild  that  is 
committed  to  your  charge.  And  how  is  tliat  to  be  done?  There  is 
lust  one  way.  There  is  one  book,  a  book  which  is  ever  new.  Time 
writes  no  wrinkle  on  its  brow.  And  by  means  of  that  fresh  book  you 
interest  the  child,  and  the  cliild  takes  your  conclusions  as  its  starting 
points  in  the  young  life.  Your  words  to  the  child,  if  you  bring  care 
and  truth  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  arc  oracles  to  the  cliild.  Go 
forth  with  the  truth  that  fills  you,  and  produce  the  best  character. 
If  that  is  true,  and  I  hope  it  is,  this  is  tlie  best  place  you  can  come  to 
on  coming  to  London  in  connection  with  tliis  great  world-wide  Con- 
vention. Here  the  Bible  is  not  only  translated  and  sent  out  into 
all  parts  of  the  world,  hut  around  you  here  you  have  the  history  of 
the  stream  down  which  the  Bible  light  has  come  unto  thousands. 
You  have  the  tokens  and  evidence  here  of  the  battles  won  at  the 
price  of  blood  all  round  you  on  these  walls.  I  think  that  coming 
with  this  object  it  is  wortli  while  to  take  a  survey  not  only  of  the  way 
in  which  the  English  Bible  has  come  to  us.  but  of  what  wo  are  doing 
with  the  Bible. 

You  are  all  aware  that  in  the  seventh  century  a  cowherd  at  Wliitby, 
Csedmon,  began  to  paraphrase  the  word  of  God.  These  were  the 
first  beginnings  of  the  stream  in  the  English  river.  But  they  were 
mere  paraphrases.  They  were  Saxon  rhymes.  It  was  not  translation. 
In  the  following  century,  the  eiglith  century,  came  Eadhelm,  the 
successor  of  Credmon,  and  he  produced  a  version  of  the  Psalms. 
That  was  a  small  beginning,  but  now  we  see  great  and  wondrous 
results.  By  his  advice  Egbert  began  tlic  work  of  translation,  and  he 
produced  the  four  gospels  in  the  Saxon  tongue.  Then  after  him  came 
a  great  man,  Bede,  the  Venerable  Bede,  whose  tomb  many  of  you 
will  see  yonder  in  Durham  Cathedral  before  you  return  to  your  own 
land  I  hope.  He  began  the  work  of  translation,  his  Saxon  boys 
copying  as  he  translated.  Ho  loved  the  Bible,  and  upon  that  after- 
noon when  looking  out  upon  the  red  setting  sun  over  the  hills  he 
continued  translating  the  Gospel  of  St,  John.    It  was  a  race  and  a 


Sunday  School  Convention.  5 

figlit  with  death.  And  before  death  he  dictated  the  last  words  of  the 
Gospel  according  to  St.  John,  and  handed  it  over  to  his  Saxon  boys. 
That  was  a  great  legacy  to  leave.  And,  gentlemen,  especially  yon 
who  are  heirs  to  the  Saxon  tongue  in  tins  land,  will  remember  that 
Alfred  devoted  himself  to  the  translation  of  tlie  Bible  also.  He  said 
he  intended  and  hoped  that  the  boys  of  his  country  should  read  the 
Scriptures  before  entering  upon  the  hard  business  of  life.  His  dying 
bequest  to  the  country  lie  loved  was  the  Book  of  Psalms.  Dying  in 
901,  he  handed  over  the  Book  of  Psalms  to  those  who  came  after  him. 
That  is  the  story  down  to  the  time  of  King  Alfred.  But  others  trans- 
lated other  portions  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  whole  of  the  New 
Testament  seems  to  have  been  translated  by  somebody.  We  have  not 
his  record ;  bixt  he  did  his  work,  and  there  were  parts  of  the  Bible — 
Joshua,  Judges,  Esther — and  these  were  in  the  hands  of  the  people 
during  that  time.  But  there  came  a  time  when  an  arrest  was  laid  on 
the  translation,  of  the  Word  of  God.  Then  came  into  this  land  the 
powerful  and  dominant  race  of  the  Normans,  and  with  them  came 
the  domination  of  Rome,  and  a  pause  of  three  centuries  was  made 
with  the  translation  of  the  Word  of  God.  These  were  dark  days,  and 
yet  God  was  working  through  them,  because  there  was  an  amalga- 
mation going  on,  and  a  strange  tongue  came  in  and  mixed  with  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  because  up  to  that  time  it  was  only  Anglo-Saxon.  And 
these  Normans  mixed  with  the  British  race,  and  produced  that  justice- 
loving  people  who  have  done  so  much  since  for  the  Bible. 

Then  after  three  centuries  of  these  dark  years  of  the  domination 
of  the  Norman  and  of  Eome  the  great  reformer  rose — John  Wiclif. 
John  Wiclif  came  in  ns  a  scholar  into  this  work.  He  was  a 
lecturer  at  Oxford  in  1372,  and  then  he  was  appointed  rector  of 
Lutterworth,  and  then  he  found  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Church 
were  not  in  accordance  with  the  Word  of  God,  and  that  the  morals 
of  the  people  and  of  the  clergy  were  also  in  antagonism  with  the 
Word  of  God ;  and  he  found  that  the  only  thing  to  bring  them 
back  again  was  the  pure  Word  of  God,  and  he  began  the  work 
of  translation.  Gentlemen,  you  receive  the  praise  of  the  world 
for  what  you  are  doing  with  the  Bible  to-day ;  but  there  was 
little  praise  for  the  great  man  who  worked  in  those  days.  John 
Wiclif  was  brought  here  to  Blackfriars  Hall,  somewhere  near  where 
you  stand  to-day — tradition  says  on  the  very  spot  where  you  stand, 
but  I  will  not  vouch  for  it.  In  Blackfriars  Hall  he  was  surrounded  by 
ecclesiastics.  The  greatest  of  them  called  him  ''  that  viper  Wiclif." 
His  books  were  condemned,  and  he  was  excommunicated  very  near  the 
house  that  sends  out  daily  13,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  John  Wiclif 
was  hunted,  but  he  died  peacefully  in  his  bed.  But  the  dogs  had  their 
prey.  They  got  the  bones  of  John  Wiclif,  and  they  burned  them  into 
ashes,  and  they  sowed  the  ashes  in  the  little  river,  the  Swift,  that  flows 
past  Lutterworth  Church,  and  the  little  Swift  carried  them  to  the 
Avon,  and  the  Avon  bore  them  to  the  narrow  seas,  and  the  narrow  seas 
carried  them  to  the  wide  ocean — a  type  of  tliat  Gospel  which  you, 


e  World's  Third 

ladies  and  gentlemen,  are  trying  to  impress  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
children.  Seventy  years  after  the  death  of  John  Wiclif,  one  year 
after  the  birth  of  Luther,  a  great  heroic  Englishman  was  bom.  The 
Bible,  as  wo  have  it  to-day,  is  practically  the  work  of  William  Tyndal. 
Tliere  is  no  proof  that  William  Tyndal  ever  saw  a  scrap  of  Wyclif  s 
translation.  "I  had  no  man  to  counterfeit,  imitate,  neither  was  helped 
with  the  English  of  any  that  had  interpreted  the  same  or  such  like 
tilings,  in  the  kScripturc  before-time."  He  was  also  a  scholar.  He 
was  at  Oxford  early  in  life.  He  there  graduated.  His  mind  was 
opening  to  the  light  of  the  truth.  When  he  graduated  he  went  to 
Cambridge  in  1516,  and  there  probably  he  met  Erasmus.  That  was 
the  year  in  which  Erasmus  produced  this  first  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament  ever  published  (holding  up  a  copy).  It  was  not  the  first 
which  had  been  printed.  A  great  bishop  in  Spain  was  bringing  out, 
at  tremendous  cost,  the  Compluten.sian  Polyglot. 

That  was  printed  in  1514,  but  lie  had  so  many  arrangements  to 
make  with  the  Church  of  Eomc  before  publication  that  Erasmus  got 
his  out  first,  in  151G.  But  it  was  the  first  Greek  Testament  ever 
printed.  Here  is  a  beautiful  copy ;  it  is  perhaps  as  clean  and  beautiful 
a  copy  as  now  exists.  That  Greek  Testament  of  Erasmus  became  the 
foundation  from  which  our  text  flowed  to  our  own  day.  We  arc 
altering  it  now.  Well,  Tyndal  came  up  to  Bishop  Tunstall  here  in 
London.  He  heard  he  was  a  great  scholar.  He  wrote  a  play  and 
brought  it  up,  but  he  found  there  was  no  place  for  him  among  the 
revelries  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  London.  He  found  after  a  short 
time  that  there  was  no  place  for  him  in  England,  and  he  left 
England  for  ever;  but  in  1525  he  brought  out  the  New  Testament. 
You  will  see,  I  hope,  in  the  Public  Library  at  Bristol,  one  copy, 
the  only  j^erfect  copy  of  that  work  that  now  exists.  Tremendous 
energy  was  put  forth  to  prevent  copies  of  the  book  getting  into 
England.  France,  Germany,  even  Bohemia,  Holland  and  Italy 
had  the  Bible  at  that  time,  but  they  were  most  anxious  that  the 
Bible  should  not  get  into  England.  Agents  were  placed  at  the 
different  ports  to  prevent  its  entrj'.  But  the  book  was  smuggled 
in  in  a  hundred  ways.  This  (showing  it)  is  the  Pentateuch  by 
Tyndal  1530.  How  that  got  into  England  we  know  not.  They 
were  smuggled  into  England  in  bales  of  flax,  in  tallow,  in  a  hundred 
ways  they  were  brought  in,  and  finally  the  Bishop  of  London 
prevailed  on  a  man  to  buy  up  copies  of  Tyndal's  work,  and  ho 
purchased  those  copies  on  the  Continent  and  sold  them  to  the  Bishop. 
The  Bishop  burned  them.  The  Bishop  had  what  he  wanted,  Tyndal 
got  the  money  he  wanted,  and  the  man  who  collected  them  got  his 
price.  Tyndal  went  on  printing  the  books,  and  thej'  came  to 
England.  But  his  steps  were  dogged.  Attempts  were  made  by 
every  means  to  get  him  to  return  to  England.  He  knew  what  he  was 
wanted  for  ;  and  finally  an  English  priest,  Philips,  followed  him,  made 
friends  with  him,  lived  with  him,  sponged  upon  him,  borrowed  one 
day  408.  from   him,  and  on  that  day  betrayed  him,  and  he  was  taken 


Sunday  School  Gonvention.  7 

to  Vilvordc  and  strangled  and  burnt.  That  was  the  reward  of 
William  Tyndal  for  the  glorious  legacy  he  has  left  us,  but  his  work 
follows  him  after  he  ceased  from  his  labour.  Then,  gentlemen, 
because  I  must  make  the  story  short,  in  1537  came  Coverdale,  a 
different  kind  of  man.  Look  at  this  version  (showing  it),  translated 
from  the  Vulgate.  That  is  the  first  edition  of  the  Bible  produced. 
That  was  printed  on  the  Continent  and  smuggled  into  England.  It 
would  have  cost  any  man  his  head  to  have  brought  that  book  into  this 
country.  That  was  in  1535.  A  second  edition  of  the  book  was 
published  on  British  soil.  That  was  the  first  copy  (showing  it),  and 
it  was  published  at  St.  Thomas's  Hospital.  William  Tyndal  had  a 
friend  called  John  Eogers,  and  Eogers  had  received  from  Tyndal's 
hands  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  as  far  down  as  the  Second 
Book  of  Chronicles,  that  he  had  produced  in  prison.  And  he  took 
what  remained  of  Tyndal,  the  Now  Testament,  the  Pentateuch,  and 
down  to  the  Second  Book  of  Chronicles,  and  then  ho  took  the 
remainder  of  the  book  from  Coverdale  and  he  produced  this  Bible. 
In  this  great  Bible  the  great  river  of  Tyndal's  translation  meets 
the  stream  of  Coverdale's,  and  here  is  the  book  from  which 
flows  at  the  present  time  our  English  version. 

Bishop  Tunstall  erected  a  pulpit  at  the  cross  at  the  north-east  comer 
of  St.  Paul's.  Before  that  pulpit  he  made  a  fire.  He  preached 
from  that  pulpit,  he  and  those  that  preached  for  him,  and  as  ho 
preached  against  this  wicked  book  he  flung  copies  of  it  into  the  fire. 
People  who  were  looking  on,  carelessly  at  first  no  doubt,  saw 
preaching  going  on  and  were  attracted,  and  when  they  found  it  was 
the  book  of  God  that  was  being  burnt  they  inquired  further  into  the 
matter.  And  the  people  with  that  wonderful  sense  of  justice,  for  I 
think  you  will  find  the  chief  characteristic  of  the  people  of  this 
country  is  the  proper  sense  of  justice,  asked  what  it  was,  and  there 
was  a  revulsion  of  feeling.  And  in  two  or  three  years  after  the  death 
of  Tyndal — you  remember  what  his  last  words  were,  "  May  God  open 
the  eyes  of  the  King  of  England  " — only  two  or  three  years  after  that 
God  did  open  the  eyes  of  the  King  of  England,  and  that  very  same 
Bishop  Tunstall  authorised  the  Bible,  which  was  composed  partly  of 
Tyndale's  version  and  partly  of  Coverdale's,  and  they  were  placed  in 
the  churches  throughout  the  land.  That  is  the  history  of  the  Bible 
down  to  that  date. 

But  I  would  like  to  point  out  one  thing,  because  there  is  a  Church 
at  the  present  time  that  poses  as  the  friend  of  the  Bible,  but  has 
always  been  its  bitter  enemy.  Here  is  Matthew's  Bible  (showing  it). 
Perhaps  that  is  one  of  the  finest  copies  in  England.  There  it  is,  a 
tall,  clean,  beautiful  copy.  How  that  escaped  we  know  not.  But  when 
John  Eogers  brought  out  that  Bible  he  was  taken  to  Smithfield  and 
burnt  for  his  pains.  He  was  the  first  martyr  of  the  Marian  time.  Ngw 
I  will  show  you  how  they  dealt  with  some  that  they  could  not  wholly 
destroy.  They  tore  pieces  out  of  them  and  put  on  little  bits  of  pigment 
so  as  to  cover  what  they  considered  against  the  interests  of  the  Church. 


8  World's  Tliird 

Here  is  one  splendid  page,  the  beginning  of  tlio  Book  of  Romans,  a 
rather  unsatisfactory  book  to  the  Church  of  Kome.  (The  page  was 
quite  blotted  out  iu  red  pigment.)  But  people  wanted  to  know 
what  was  under  the  pigment.  They  searched  and  found  something 
very  unpleasant  for  the  Cliurch  of  Korae.  So  mightily  grew  the 
Word  of  ( Jod  and  prevailed. 

Now,  gentlemen,  my  time'  is  up,  I  think.  (Go  on.)  I  need  not 
follow  that  line  further.  There  is  one  of  Tyndal's  Bibles  (showing  it) 
— a  very  lovely  edition.  You  see  they  illustrated  the  Bible  at 
that  time.  The  illustration  in  that  page  is  tlie  devil  going  about 
with  a  wooden  leg  sowing  tares.  We  laugh  at  that,  but  that  brought 
home  to  the  child  mind,  and  the  mind  of  man  perhaps,  with  a 
definiteness  that  the  simple  words  would  not  perhaps  have  suc- 
ceeded in  explaining.  Then  you  know  that  a  number  of  men 
■were  driven  out  of  the  country  to  Geneva  and  they  produced  the 
Geneva  Bible,  which  became  for  three-quarters  of  a  century  the  Bible 
of  the  English  homes.  It  was  at  first  divided  into  verses ;  I  w'isli 
they  had  not  done  that.  That  is  the  first  edition  of  the  Bible  (.showing 
it)  called  the  Geneva  Bible.     It  is  full  of  these  illustrations. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  shall  have  to  talk  shop,  for  I  want  to  tell  you  what 
we  are  doing  ourselves,  and  I  will  try  to  do  it  in  this  way.  This  is  the 
third  great  meeting  of  your  world-wide  Convention.  Your  first,  as  I 
understand,  was  in  1862,  and  a  few  minutes  before  you  were  here  to- 
day my  clerk  kindly  made  out  for  me  the  number  of  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  that  had  been  put  into  circulation  from  that  day  to  the 
present  time,  and  I  find  that  number  is  over  109,000,000  copies  of 
the  Word  of  God.  I  think  you  will  understand  better  what  we  are 
doing  from  the  next  item  I  shall  give  you.  When  your  great  Con- 
vention first  met  the  number  of  versions  of  the  Scriptures  produced  by 
this  Society  was  1(J3.  Since  then  180  new  versions  have  been  added, 
so  that  more  versions  of  the  Scriptures  have  been  produced  in  new 
languages  since  the  first  meeting  of  your  Convention  than  were  pro- 
duced during  the  whole  eighteen  preceding  centuries.  From  that 
you  see  we  are  going  on  at  a  ratio  of  progress  that  should  be  satisfactory 
even  to  you.  China  in  1843  had  less  than  ten  converts,  now  there  are 
over  70,000.  Japan  in  1872  had  only  ten  baptized  Cliristians,  now  in 
Tokio  alone  there  are  ninety-two  Christian  churches.  India  had  not 
a  single  native  Christian ;  now  there  are  over  two  and  a  half  millions. 
Eighty  years  ago  there  was  no  native  Christian  in  Burraah,  now 
there  are  over  GOO  churches  there.  I  might  also  toll  you  that  at  the 
present  time  there  are  over  100  committees  sitting  on  translation 
and  revision  work  throughout  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Gentlemen,  I  must  bring  this  to  a  close,  though  you  tempt  me  to  go 
on  by  your  attention.  You  are  engaged  in  a  hard  work,  and  so  are  we. 
Do  not  yield.  You  get  iu  rough  boys  from  tlie  street.  We  have  hard 
languages  to  deal  with  and  very  angular  men  to  make  the  transla- 
tions sometimes.  But  do  not  despair.  May  I  tell  you  a  little  story 
which    contains    a    parable.     There    were   two   frogs    once.     These 


Sunday  School  Convention.  9 

dropped  into  a  pail  of  milk.  One  of  these  frogs  was  a  pessimist  frog. 
He  said,  "  It  is  no  use  at  all  to  try  to  escape  from  this  iilace,"  and 
dropped  to  the  bottom  immediately.  The  other  had  a  hopeful  mind, 
something  like  the  hope  that  springs  ever  in  your  hearts,  and  he 
swam  round  and  round  and  round  and  at  last  was  seen  sitting  on  a 
pat  of  butter  of  his  own  churning.  Gentlemen,  do  not  despair 
with  the  hardest  child  that  comes  into  your  midst.  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  did  not  despair  with  us,  and  we  were  worse  than  the  child. 
And  with  this  book  and  you  in  the  centre  among  these  children  you 
are  doing  the  most  Christ-like  work,  for  that  is  just  the  place  where 
He  placed  the  child.  I  will  just  tell  you  now  one  other  story.  It  is 
this.  A  man  was  dying  some  time  ago.  A  friend  called  to  see  him. 
He  inquired  as  to  his  condition  and  state.  "  No,"  the  man  said,  "  I 
am  not  a/raid  to  die.  It  is  all  right  there.  But  I  am  ashamed  to 
die."  And,  friends,  that  may  come  home  to  most  of  us.  God  has 
given  us  such  a  splendid  opportunity  in  this  world  for  doing  good 
that  if  we  do  not  do  it  in  our  many  privileges  we  should  be  ashamed  to 
die  when  the  end  has  come.  I  fear  I  have  transgressed  my  twenty 
minutes,  and  you  are  all  so  good  that  I  would  like  to  go  on  a 
little  longer;  but  I  must  leave  room  for  my  successor.  I  would 
end  as  I  began  with  a  hundred  thousand  welcomes  to  you.  I 
think  I  saw  a  good  many  American  faces  a  few  minutes  ago.  Wc 
are  beginning  to  know  each  other  and  will  know  each  other 
better.  I  do  not  care  for  formal  treaties.  A  treaty  is  no  stronger 
than  the  interests  of  the  people  who  are  bound  by  it.  But  I  do  want 
this  union  of  Christian  hearts,  and  I  might  tay  I  was  going  to  proclaim 
the  banns  between  the  two  peoples.  But  I  will  not  do  that.  We  are 
united  already,  and  whom  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  man  dare 
to  put  asunder. 

The  Chairman  :  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to 
you  one  Irish  gentleman,  our  Editorial  Secretary,  Dr.  Wright, 
I  have  now  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  another  Irish  gentle- 
man connected  with  us  as  our  Home  Secretary,  the  Kev.  H.  J. 
Macartney. 

The  Eev.  H.  J.  Macartney:  Mr.  Chairman,  Brethren  and  Friends, 
Dr.  Wright  has  spoken  to  you,  I  need  not  say  in  eloquent  terms  about 
our  work.  My  department  is  to  speak  to  you  a  few  homely  words 
about  your  own  work.  God  help  me.  You  soon,  on  Tuesday, 
Wednesday,  Thursday  and^riday,  will  be  in  the  deep  waters  of 
Sunday  school  truth  ;  and  be  it  mine  just  to  bring  you  to  the  ocean 
fringe.  And  here  let  me  say  that  your  platform  is  just  like  ours. 
The  Bible  Society  platform  is  open  to  all  comers,  provided  only  they 
love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  believe  in  the  volume  of  revealed 
truth.  And  your  platform  is  open  to  all  comers  provided  they  love  the 
word  of  God  and  are  ready  to  toil  for  the  salvation  of  children.  Yes, 
these  are  the  two  bonds  between  us,  brethren  and  sisters  of  ihe  Sunday 
School  Union.  You  believe  in  the  Lord  and  you  believe  in  the  book. 
You  believe  not  only  that  the  Bible  was  inspired  but  you  believe  that 


10  World's  Third 

the  Bible  ia  inspired  and  the  Spirit  of  Crod,  if  I  may  say  so,  is  to  bo 
found  within  tliese  sacred  pages,  the  Spirit  of  God  being  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believcth.  Now  I  am  hero 
simply  to  recite  my  creed  and  aa  I  said  I  do  not  want  to  bring  you  into 
the  profound  de])th3  of  to-morrow  and  the  days  that  follow,  but  into 
the  waters  near  the  shore.  And  first  of  all  let  mo  in  one  sentence 
celebrate  the  praises  of  this  book. 

"  Whence  but  from  heaven  could  meu  unskiile<l  in  arts 
In  different  ages  born,  in  different  parts 
Weave  such  agreed  trutlis,  or  how,  or  why 
Should  all  conspire  to  cheat  us  in  a  lie? 
Unasked  tlieir  pains,  ungrateful  their  advice, 
Starving  their  gains,  and  martyrdom  their  price." 

You  stand  in  the  Library  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 
But  we  all  claim  that  this  book  is  a  library  in  itself,  a  library  that  it 
took  over  one  liundred  and  fifty  years  to  compile.  But  one  author 
was  at  it  all  the  time,  and  he  had  ten  penmen  under  him,  for  holy 
men  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  tlio  Holy  Ghost.  And  now  I 
speak  to  Sunday  school  teachers  and  the  friends  of  the  Bible  and  the 
friends  of  the  young,  the  friends  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  friends  of 
children.  And  what  shall  I  say  ?  I  am  going  to  be  very  homely  and 
matter  of  fact.  I  believe  in  the  morning  Sunday  school.  I  believe 
the  morning  is  a  quiet  time,  and  I  believe  that  as  a  rule  you  get  no 
troublesome  children  before  early  service.  They  are  troublesome  at 
home  because  they  ask  mother,  and  sometimes  father,  that  they  may 
be  ready  for  the  early  Sunday  school ;  but  they  do  not  give  trouble 
when  they  come.  I  believe  that  in  the  morning  Sabbath  school  you 
get  the  best  teachers  and  the  best  children.  God  bless  the  morning 
school.  And  I  believe  in  Sunday  schools  for  the  upper  classes,  and  I 
am  not  afraid  to  have  them  in  separate  buildings.  I  came  from  under 
strange  stars.  I  came  from  away  down  there  under  the  Southern 
Cross,  and  I  have  left  a  little  parish  behind  me  to  throw  in  my 
fortunes  with  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  I  ilo  not 
believe  I  shall  ever  be  shipwrecked. 

There  is  a  rdad  in  my  parish  called  the  G  II  Road,  where  there  is  a 
villa  and  in  the  villa  are  four  sitting-rooms.  There  are  the  drawing- 
room,  the  dining-room,  the  morning-room  and  the  general  room,  and  on 
Sunday  afternoon  every  one  of  those  roAis  is  full  of  the  children  of 
the  gentry.  Many  of  these  have  parents  who  would  not  send  their 
children  to  the  Sunday  school.  In  the  land  where  Dr.  AVright  and  I 
come  from,  I  am  happy  to  say,  the  children  of  the  gentry  sit  side  by 
side  with  the  children  of  the  peasantry,  and  some  of  us  think  that 
Irish  children  of  the  upper  and  peasant  classes  know  more  than  in 
some  other  countries  about  the  Bible.  However  that  may  be,  we  want 
to  get  the  souls  of  the  children,  and  we  must  not  stand  on  ceremonies. 
It  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  I  believe  in  teachers  who  have 
plenty  of  mental  furniture,  and  in  Australia,  where  I  came  from,  we 


Sunday  School  Convention.  11 

have  not  only  a  teachers'  library  but  we  have  severe  tcacherB' 
examinations.  We  give  them  lectures  and  we  give  them  model 
lessons;  but  we  also  put  them  through  a  course  of  discipline,  and 
when  they  have  passed  very  severe  examinations  they  get  diplomas, 
and  if  they  stand  very  high,  splendid  prizes.  For  we  have  "a  fund 
wherewith  wc  purchase  noble  books  which  help  them  with  the  study 
of  Scripture. 

But  besides  the  mental  endowment  and  mental  furniture,  I 
tell  j'ou,  I  further  believe  in  having  converted  teachers.  I  do 
not  believe  in  going  to  get  a  girl  out  of  the  dance  and  the  ball 
room,  and  the  theatre  and  the  racecourse,  in  order  to  do  her  good- 
My  business  is  with  these  children,  and  I  believe  in  spiritual  men  and 
spiritual  women  to  do  spiritual  work.  And  more  than  that,  I  believe 
in  sanctified  teachers,  for  there  is  many  a  sanctified  teacher  who  has 
got  a  very  nasty  temper  and  can  very  easily  be  upset  and  just  mar  his 
own  influence,  and  perhaps  the  influence  of  his  own  Sunday  school  by 
showing  and  manifesting  the  carnal  mind.  And  here  we  come  to  a 
vital  point  as  touching  Sunday  school  teachers.  We  are  here  wliat 
for  ?  To  create  saving  and  sanctifying  impressions  on  the  minds  of 
others ;  and  as  teachers  jou  are  there  on  that  seat,  in  that  class,  to 
create  a  saving  and  sanctifying  impression  on  the  minds  of  the 
young.  And  now  how  much  salvation  and  how  much  sanctification 
will  flow  forth  from  j'ou  ?  That  is  the  point.  Just  as  much  as  there 
is  of  God  in  you  so  will  be  the  overflow  and  so  will  be  the  result. 
You  will  be  saved  and  sanctified  children  going  forth  from  the 
Sunday  school,  only  if  you  yourselves  are  filled  with  God's  Holy  Spirit 
and  are  brimming  over.  I  believe  also  that  when  the  teacher  goes  to  tt^ke 
the  seal  he  should  be  conscious  of  this,  that  there  is  a  fire  in  the  bosom 
of  every  child.  It  may  be  latent  like  the  spark  in  the  flint.  It  may  be 
smouldering  like  the  fire  in  the  bottom  of  the  warehouse,  that  the 
watchman  knows  nothing  about.  Or  it  may  be  ready  just  to  blaze  out 
in  after  life  like  a  volcano,  a  volcano  that  will  work  as  great  ruin  upon 
morals  and  religion,  upon  men  and  women  as  did  the  outburst  of 
Vesuvius  upon  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  So  we  see  that  we  must 
realize  that  we  are  in  the  presence  of  Satan  and  in  the  presence  of 
atoms  of  hell  fire  in  these  children,  and  therefore  our  work  is  desperate, 
and  we  should  have  on  the  whole  armour  of  God,  and  be  keenly 
alive  to  the  situation.  I  also  believe  that  when  the  teacher  goes  to 
his  class  he  should  bring  the  one  book  with  him.  I  do  not  believe  in 
bringing  a  story  book,  nor  do  I  believe  in  bringing  a  text  book. 
Work  upon  a  story  if  you  like  for  illustration  before  you  come  to  the 
school,  and  work  at  the  text  book  as  hard  as  ever  you  like  before 
you  come.  But  when  you  come,  let  it  be  just  your  own  self  with 
God  indwelling  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  word 
of  God. 

I  believe  in  illustrations,  both  from  the  field  of  nature  and  from  the 
Book  of  Revelation,  and  you  enrich  the  child  and  do  good  by  giving 
the  facts  from  nature,  whether  it  be  geology  or  astronomy.     We  are 


12  World's  Third 

hero  as  readera,  and  intelligent  and  observing  beings ;  and  as  men 
and  women  and  Sunday  school  teachers  I  believe  we  ought  to  have 
tliis  purjwse,  to  levy  a  tribute  for  our  God  from  every  field  of  nature, 
from  every  work  of  art.  But  I  believe  that  our  best  stories  and  our 
Ix'st  illustrations  are  taken  from  the  word  of  God  itself,  and  I  believe 
that  the  history  of  the  eighteen  Christian  centuries  to  be  one  elonga- 
tion of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  record  tho 
Acts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  tlie  Holy  Spirit  has  been  working  in 
sleepless  energy  ever  since  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  therefore  we  can 
draw  plenty  of  material  from  the  history  of  God's  work  in  the  foreign 
fields.  I  believe  that  the  Sunday  school  never  reaches  its  climax  of 
blessing  until  some  of  its  members  go  right  away  out  among  the 
heathen.  Oh,  happy  Sunday  school,  where  you  see  on  a  Sunday  u 
vacant  chair,  and  perhaps  tearful  eyes.  Why  ?  Because  a  missionary 
has  come  down  and  spoken  in  aid  of  the  heathen  and  perishing 
thousands,  men,  women  and  cliildreii,  and  because  some  soul  has  said, 
"  Your  work  here  has  been  blest  <o  me.  Others  can  fill  my  place.  I 
have  means  and  strength  to  go  out  among  tho  heathen  and  tell  them 
of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  Yes,  I  believe  that  tho 
Sunday  school  then  begins  to  understand  something  of  tho  largeness 
of  God's  work  ;  and  when  the  letters  come  from  the  dear  old  teachers, 
and  they  hear  of  other  lands  and  other  languages  and  people,  with 
other  colour  and  other  skins  living  in  these  extraordinary  regions  of 
the  North  and  of  the  tropics,  then  their  hearts  begin  to  believe.  And 
what  are  we  here  for  ?  To  convert  that  Sunday  school  into  another 
regiment  in  God's  mighty  army.  Our  business  is  not  to  make  citizens 
only,  but  to  make  ambassadors.  That  is  the  work  that  is  to  come  out 
of  our  laboratory.  We  want  ambassadors.  We  want  people  who  are 
ready  to  sacrifice  everything,  who  count  gold  as  notliing  more  tlian 
the  dirt  and  dust  of  the  streets,  provided  they  can  bring  diamonds  and 
jewels  to  our  Master's  crown. 

Many  a  teachei-,  perhaps  there  are  some  here — and  I  say  I  am 
only  speaking  homely  and  simple  truths — many  a  teacher  perhaps 
is  a  little  disheartened,  because,  though  themselves  converted  and 
thus  surrendered  to  God,  tiiey  have  not  seen  results.  I  remember 
my  beloved  old  father  telling  me  this  story.  Two  young  fellows 
on  the  same  day  enlisted  in  the  same  regiment.  They  Avent 
by  the  same  ship  to  India.  They  were  at  tlie  same  depot  in  India. 
They  went  side  by  side  to  the  same  battlefield,  and  they  fell 
together,  and  tliey  were  carried  together  into  the  same  hospital, 
and  they  lay  side  by  side  upon  their  beds  in  the  ward.  They 
were  visited  by  tho  same  man,  a  man  of  God.  He  found  one 
accessible  at  all  points.  He  found  the  one  ready  to  weep  for  his  sins. 
He  found  him  ready  to  accept  the  Saviour  and  to  triumph  in  his 
blood.  But  he  found  the  other  invulnerable.  He  would  not  under- 
stand ;  he  did  not  care  because  he  did  not  feel  and  did  not  see.  And 
■what  was  the  story  ?  Tlie  one  had  been  a  Sunday  school  child,  and 
the  other  had   not.     There   is   the   fruit   of  labour.      Perhaps   the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  15 

Sunday  school  teacher  will  not  know  till  the  day  of  glory  the  fruit  of 
Mb  labour,  and  that  tliat  soldier  was  saved. 

And  here  I  would  just  conclude  witli  this  parable  for  the  en- 
couragement of  my  own  heart  and  the  encouragement  of  your- 
selves. It  is  a  parable  founded  upon  fact.  It  is  the  story  of 
a  palm  tree  that  grew  in  an  obscure  place  far  away  upon  the 
river's  bank.  And  it  so  grew  that  it  hung  over  a  rapid  stream, 
And  as  its  fruit  ripened,  every  now  and  then  there  was  a  splash. 
and  at  every  splash  as  the  rapid  stream  carried  the  fruit  away  the 
palm  tree  sighed,  and  said,  "  I  have  more  wealth  than  any  tree  in 
the  forest,  and  yet  I  live  in  vain.  I  have  firing  for  the  hearth,  timher 
for  the  house,  fibre  for  the  walls,  leaves  for  the  roof,  wine  for  the 
wearj',  food  for  the  hungry,'and  oil  for  the  light,  and  yet  I  live  in 
vain."  And  so  the  fruit  dropped  into  the  stream,  month  by  month, 
year  by  year,  and  every  time  the  fruit  fell  there  was  a  groan  and  a 
sigh.  Just  let  us  change  the  scene.  There  is  a  great  cyclone  out  at 
sea  and  there  is  a  coral  island.  And  tliere  is  a  great  ship  with  a 
thousand  of  the  Queen's  subjects  on  board,  soldiers  going  abroad. 
And  in  the  cyclone  the  ship  is  driven  on  that  island.  But  there  is  not 
a  man  lost,  not  a  sailor,  not  a  soldier.  And  when  they  land  they  are 
in  a  forest,  there  is  wood  for  the  fire,  there  is  timber  to  build,  there  is 
food,  there  is  milk,  there  is  everything.  Where  is  it  from  ?  From 
the  stem,  the  leaf,  the  fruit  of  the  palm  tree.  And  all  that  coral 
island  is  covered  with  a  forest,  and  has  sprung  from  the  cocoa  nuts  that 
fell  into  that  far  away  unknown  stream  up  yonder  in  the  hills,  and 
were  carried  out  into  the  ocean,  and  took  root  there  in  the  island  in 
mid-ocean.  And  that  is  tlie  way  with  our  labour.  We  believe,  and 
therefore  speak,  and  we  do  not  want  to  see  results,  but  we  want  to 
glorify  God,  and  how  ?  "  They  that  be  wise,"  look  in  the  margin — 
"they  that  be  teachers,"  and  here  they  are,  "shall  shine  above  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness as  stars  for  ever."  Does  not  it  seem  to  you  that  it  is  rather  a 
come  down  from  the  greatness  of  the  firmament  to  the  sturs  ? 

"Twiukle,  twinkle,  little  star, 
How  I  wonder  what  you  are." 

The  wonder  is  over.  Those  little  twinkling  stars  are  suns.  They 
are  suns ;  and  you  will  be  blazing  suns  in  the  firmament  to  all 
eternity  if  now  your  heart  is  set  on  this,  to  make  Jesus  glorious  by 
bringing  in  the  children.  And  this  is  the  book  of  which  you  have 
heard  to-day.  It  has  got  the  same  name  as  Jesus,  the  word  of  God. 
And  when  the  word  of  Christ  dwells  in  you  richly,  and  when  God 
Himself  dwells  in  you  richly,  then  your  words  become  words  of 
flame. 

"  Oh !  the  orator's  voice  is  a  mighty  power, 
As  it  echoes  from  shore,  to  shore  ; 
And  the  word  and  pen  have  more  sway  o'er  men 
Than  the  murd'rous  cannon's  roar. 


14  World's  Third 

Wht'u  the  Lord  created  the  earth  and  sea, 

The  stars  and  glorious  sun  ; 
The  Godhead  spoke  and  the  universe  woke, 

And  the  mighty  work  was  done. 

Let  the  word  be  flung  from  the  orator's  tongue, 

Or  drop  from  the  Christian's  pen  ; 
And  tlie  chains  accurst  asunder  burst, 

That  fettered  the  minds  of  men." 

God  bless  you,  dear  friends.  Our  number  is  smaller  than  it  ought 
to  be.  Some  of  our  number —  I  have  not  got  my  badge,  I  have  it 
downstairs — but  some  of  our  number  are  amongst  the  unburied  dead. 
You  know  that  some  of  them  sleei)  beneath  the  wave.  Do  you  know 
that  some  of  them  were  on  board  the  ill-fated  Baiirgogne,  four  of  them  ? 
We  are  four  short.  And  do  'you  know,  I  was  preaching  last  night, 
and  I  could  not  help  saying  it — these  words  have  burnt  into  my 
soul — that  when  I  see  those  French  sailors  lifting  up  their  oars 
to  beat  out  the  life  from  our  fellow-countrymen  and  perhaps  their 
own,  and  crying  "To  hell  with  the  passengers,"  I  see  it  with 
horror.  But  what  shall  be  our  revenge?  To  Paradise  with  the 
French  pcoi)lc  and  the  French  children,  to  Paradise  with  the  children 
of  Spanish  parents,  to  Paradise  with  the  children  of  Portugal,  to 
Paradise  with  the  children  of  Italy,  to  Paradise  with  the  children  of 
Austria,  and  Geimany,  and  Europe,  and  Asia,  and  Africa,  and 
America  !  And  this  is  the  word  that  finds  a  way  for  them.  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 

Thje  Chairman  :  Our  Society  that  meets  here  was  being  spoken  of 
this  afternoon  very  kindly  as  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 
We  always  have  foreign  gentlemen  upon  our  Committee,  and  I  have 
pleasure  in  intioduciug  one,  Mr.  Werner,  who  will  address  a  few  words 
to  us  in  German. 

Mr.  I.  P.  Werner,  speaking  first  in  German  and  then  in  French, 
said  :  Dear  Christian  Friends,  I  am  very  pleased  to  give  you  the 
heartiest  of  welcomes  on  this  occasion.  Especially  am  I  pleased  to 
welcome  the  delegates  who  come  from  different  i)arts  of  the  Continent, 
and  in  order  that  yoii  may  feel  as  mucli  at  home  as  possible  I  shall 
address  you  in  the  two  languages  with  which  many  of  you  are  most 
familiar.  Our  friends  on  the  Continent  have  always  had  a  share  in 
the  work  of  this  Society,  inasmuch  as  its  constitution  requires  that  six 
members  of  tlie  Committee  shall  be  foreigners.  Missionary  work 
abroad  is  often  the  same  work  that  you  carry  on  in  your  Sunday 
schools,  the  teaching  of  children.  And  in  tiiis  work  it  is  always 
found  that  the  Bible  must  be  given  to  tlie  people  in  their  own  native 
tongue.  Therefore  one  of  the  first  things  the  missionary  does  when 
he  is  commencing  work  in  a  new  field  is  to  set  about  translating  the 
Bible  into  the  language  or  dialect  of  that  particular  part  of  the  world. 
Whenever  the  missionaries  send  their  MS.  to  the  Bible  House  hero 
we  always  very  gladly  undertake  its  printing  and  publishing. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  15 

The  Chaikman  :  I  do  uot  kuow  how  many  languages  Mr.  Werner 
is  master  of.  I  can  assure  you  he  could  give  an  excellent  address  to 
you  in  English.  There  are  two  gentlemen,  I  am  told,  in  the  Convention 
who  would  like  to  say  a  few  words — Mr.  Liddiard  and  Mr.  Woodruif. 
Mr.  Liddiard  seems  to  me  to  unite  us  very  closely  together  because  he 
is  not  only  an  officer  of  the  Sunday  School  Convention,  but  he  is  a 
member  of  the  Committee  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Biblq^.  Society. 
I  have  very  great  pleasure  in  introducing  him. 

Mr.  J.  E.  LiDDiAED,  F.R.G.S.  (Chairman  of  the  Eeception  and 
Hospitality  Sub-Committee) :  Dear  Sir,  and  Friends  and  Fellow- 
workers, — I  feel  it  is  a  great  pleasure  that  I  can  meet  you  and 
greet  you  as  friends  and  fellow  delegates  to  thia^great  Convention. 
And  I  have  also  the  pleasure  to  meet  you  as  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  this  great  Society.  Our  Convention  is  a  great  event  if  we 
reckon  only  by  numbers,  but  if  we  weigh  it  by  its  importance,  I  think 
we  shall  have  a  truer  measure.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  every 
member  who  is  present  is  a  delegate  member,  is  the  centre  of  a  wide 
circle  of  influence,  and  I  hope  that  from  the  gatherings  of  the 
Convention  this  week  influences  will  go  forth  that  will  touch  parts  of 
the  world  of  the  very  widest  extent.  I  think,  dear  friends,  it  is 
peculiarly  appropriate  that  our  first  meeting  should  be  held  in  this 
house,  and  that  j-ou  should  have  heard  to-day  so  intensely  interesting 
an  address  from  our  dear  old  friend  Dr.  Wright,  an  address  that  I  am 
sure  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  have  had  the  pleasure  and 
the  privilege  of  listening  to  it.  Dr.  Wright's  name  will  be  very 
familiar  to  many  of  our  friends  over  the  Atlantic,  seeing  that  he  is 
one  of  the  most  valued  contributors  to  the  American  Sunday  School 
Times  and  has  done  splendid  service  in  that  direction.  We  have 
been  reminded  that  our  number  is  lessened  to-day  by  the  loss 
of  those  dear  friends  who  went  down  in  the  Bourgogne,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ruudell,  Miss  Tower,  and  Miss  Reeves.  The  telegram  gave 
no  more  information  to  us.  We  do  not  know  from  what  part  of 
the  States  these  friends  came.  We  know  that  they  intended  to 
meet  with  us  here.  They  are  meeting  with  those  who  have  passed 
beyond  the  flood,  and  we  rejoice  to  know  that  there  is  no  death — what 
seems  so  is  transition.  Well,  my  friends,  I  will  uot  detain  you 
longer  this  afternoon  ;  I  shall  have  the  opportunity  of  meeting  with 
you  again  during  the  week.  But  I  wish  to  move — and  I  am  sure  it 
will  be  a  motion  that  will  receive  your  hearty  approval  and  support — 
that  the  best  thanks  of  the  delegates  to  this  Convention  be  tendered 
to  the  Chairman  and  oflicers  of  the  Committee  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  for  their  kind  and  hearty  reception 
here  to-day. 

The  Rev.  H.  C.  Woodruff,  of  the  Foreign  Sunday  School  Associ- 
ation of  the  United  States :  Mr.  Ohairm^,  it  aftbrds  me  very  great 
pleasui'e  on  behalf  of  the  American  delegation  to  second  this  motion 
of  thanks.  It  gives  us  great  pleasure — I  am  sure  every  one  of  us 
is  a  reader  of  the  Sunday  School  Times,  and  if  there  is  any  one  here 


16  World's  Third 

who  is  not  a  reader  of  the  Sunday  School  Times,  he  ought  to  be — to 
meet  face  to  face  with  Dr.  Wright.  We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  see 
him  and  hear  him  especially  iu  his  admirable  address  on  the  history 
of  our  English  version.  It  is  a  very  great  happiness  that  we  are  able 
to  stand  here  at  this  centre  and  begin  our  work  by  considering  how 
the  Bible  can  bo  spread  and  how  the  Bible  can  be  taught.  I  very 
heartily  second  this  motion. 

Mr.  LiDDiAUD  put  the  motion,  which  was  carried  witli  applause. 

The  Chairman  :  I  can  assure  you,  my  dear  friends,  that  we  aiijire- 
ciate  the  thanks  that  have  been  given  and  the  kind  way  in  which  it 
was  moved  and  seconded.  It  has  given  us  great  pleasure  to  welcome 
you  here  this  afternoon,  and  I  hope  that  you  have  not  been  over- 
crowded, though  I  feel  tliat  the  heat  has  been  great  and  the  pressure 
considerable.  We  thauk  you  very  much  for  coming  to  see  us.  I  will 
ask  my  friend,  the  Eev.  J.  Gordon  Watt,  to  close  the  meeting  with 
prayer. 

The  Kev.  J.  Gordom  Watt  oftered  prayer,  aud  the  proe:eding3 
terminated. 


THE  RECEPTION  OF  DELEGATES  AT  THE  MANSION 
HOUSE. 

On  Monday  evening,  July  11th,  the  Lord  Jlayor  and  Lady  Mayoress 
held  a  reception  of  the  foreign  delegates  at  the  Mansion  House.  The 
reception  took  place  iu  the  Saloon,  after  which  light  refreshments 
were  served.  The  delegates  then  assembled  in  tlie  Egyptian  Hall, 
where  a  short  concert  was  given  by  forty  selected  voices  from  the 
London  Sunday  School  Choir,  conducted  by  Mr.  George  Merritt. 

The  Lord  Mayor's  Address. 

The  Lord  Mayor  (Colonel  F.  H.  Davies,  M.P.)  said :  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen, — It  aifords  me  the  greatest  possible  pleasure  to  welcome 
go  many  friends  from  so  many  distant  parts  of  tlie  cartli  to  the  centre 
of  tlie  City  of  London.  I  was  very  much  struck  wiien  I  received  you 
here  to-night  to  find  that  you  came  from  all  parts  of  tlie  globe.  But 
I  cannot  say  that,  witliout  expressing  my  deep  regret,  that  there  are 
some  who  desired  to  be  with  us,  but  who  unhappily  were  lost  in 
coming.  We  know  that  life  is  very  uncertain,  and  while  we  are  ready 
nt  all  times  to  do  what  we  can  to  assist  those  who  need  assistance, 
.sometimes  there  is  an  element  of  danger  which  prevents  the  fulfilment 
of  the  best  intentions.  That  element  of  danger  has  made  itself  felt 
in  relation  to  this  Convention,  for  I  am  told  that  four  persons — 
passengers  by  the  ill-fated*ia  Boicrgogue — lost  their  lives  in  coming 
over  to  attend  these  meetings. 

Well  now.  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  you  know  perhaps  better  than  I 
do,  the  object  of  meeting  in  London  at  this  time.    We  remember  the 


Sunday  School  Coni)ention.  1? 

lives  of  the  pioneers  of  the  Sunday  school  movement  with  gratitude, 
and  we  must  ever  feel  deeply  thankful  that  such  a  noble  institution 
has  come  out  of  such  small  beginnings.  I  welcome  yon  here  in  the 
name  of  the  citizens  of  London,  and  I  hope  and  trust  that  your 
labours  may  be  crowned  with  success.     (Cheers.) 

Speech  by  the  lion.  S.  H.  Blake  (Toronto). 

The  Hon.  S.  H.  Blake,  of  Toronto,  said :  My  Lord  Mayor,  Ladies 
and  Gentlemen, — A  very  high  honour  has  been  done  me  by  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  this  Convention  in  asking  me  to  move 
a  vote  of  thanks  to  you  for  the  right  royal  welcome  you  have  given 
the  members  of  the  Convention.  We  do  not  think  it  unreasonable 
that  the  metropolis  of  the  world  should  give  a  welcome  to  this 
World's  Conference.  No  more  appropriate  place  for  its  meetings 
could  be  had  than  this  old,  renowned  City  of  London,  the  city  par 
excellence  of  the  world.  We  recognise,  and  this  historical  room  leads 
us  back  iu  thought  to  all  that  your  city  has  done  in  its  struggles  for 
liberty,  for  truth  and  for  right;  and  we  feel  it  an  inspiration  that 
the  doors  of  the  Mansion  House  of  this  great  city  should  be  thrown 
open  to  this  Convention.  (Cheers.)  We  recognise  also  all  the  great 
charities  of  your  city,  and  we  feel  that  there  we  meet  with  you  almost 
on  a  common  ground.  We  take  your  motto  as  our  own — Domine,  dirige 
nos — "  May  the  Lord  direct  us."  Ho  has  largely  directed  you  in  the 
great  work  that  has  brought  this  city  such  splendid  government,  and 
made  it  to  be  observed  of  all  the  nations  in  the  world.  And  we  believe 
that  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord  has  indeed  been  upon  this  city, 
directing  and  guiding  it  to  the  achievement  of  the  grand  results  that 
we  see  to-day.  We  humbly  take  that  motto  in  our  work,  and  we 
humbly  hope  that  the  same  Lord  may  rule  and  direct  and  govern  us 
io  the  great  work  in  which  we  are  engaged.  And,  indeed,  there  is 
another  motto  which  stands  on  the  banner  behind  me,  Dieu  et  mon 
droit — "  God  and  my  right ;  "  may  we  not  also  take  that  as  our  own  ? 
Taking  the  great  God  as  the  guide  and  strength  in  our  work,  we  are 
led  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  "  my  right " — the  right  of  every 
child  to  know  of  that  wondrous  Being  who  is  the  Friend  of  children, 
the  right  of  every  child  to  be  shaken  free  from  the  shackles  of  sin, 
the  right  of  every  child  to  have  loving  hands  placed  round  him,  to 
be  led  into  the  narrow  way,  to  be  taught  to  feel  that  he  and  she 
are  the  material  of  which  are  to  be  made  the  men  and  women  who 
shall  help  to  redeem  the  world. 

We  thank  you,  my  Lord  Mayor,  for  the  hearty  welcome  that 
brought  all  parts  of  the  world  into  touch  with  this  great  city.  Of  all 
the  happy  memories  we  shall  bear  back  to  our  homes  beyond  the  seas, 
none  will  be  more  pleasant  than  that  of  the  hearty  way  in  which  tliis 
great  city  has  opened  to  the  world  the  mansion  of  the  metropolis  of 
the  world ;  and  we  shall  gladly  tell  our  kith  and  kin  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  over  all  the  world,  of  the  goodness  and  kindness  of 
the  Lord  Mayor  and  Lady  Mayoress  of  the  City  of  London.    (Cheers.) 

G 


18  World's  Third 

Speech  by  Dr.  Bdrt  (iZowte). 

Dr.  William  Burt,  of  Eome :  My  Lord  Mayor,  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men,— I  have  been  honoured  by  the  Committee  with  the  privilege  of 
seconding  this  vote  of  thanks  to  your  Lordship, — I  know  not  why, 
unless  that  I  have  tlie  honour  to  represent  "  the  Eternal  City."  The 
idea  of  tlio  Sunday  school,  originating  in  this  great  metropolis,  found 
early  its  fullest  development  in  America ;  then  it  became  universal 
throughout  England,  and  now  it  is  oversjireading  the  continent  of 
Europe,  whore  it  has  met,  and  still  meets  with  great  difficulties  on 
account  ()f  the  prejudices  of  the  people.  Thirty-five  years  ago  there 
could  come  from  Kome  no  one  to  a  Sunday  School  Convention.  Her 
gates  were  hermetically  sealed  against  the  Word  of  God.  But  thank 
God,  we  are  the  servants  of  the  King  of  kings,  who,  when  He  wants  to 
open  up  a  new  country  to  the  influence  of  the  Gospel,  raises  up  the  men 
to  do  His  work.  When  He  wants  to  honour  His  servants  He  speaks  to 
the  hearts  of  those  who  are  able  to  be  His  instruments.  So  He  spoke 
to  the  heart  of  a  Mazzini,  a  Garibaldi,  and  a  Victor  Emmanuel,  until 
not  only  Italy  in  the  North,  Centre,  and  South,  but  Rome  herself 
opened  her  gates  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  those  hiunble  servants  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  went  to  te  ach  to  the  children  the  words  of 
eternal  life. 

I  take  it  as  a  personal  honour  that  I  have  the  privilege  of  seconding 
this  hearty  vote  of  thanks  to  your  Lordship  for  the  great  honour  you 
have  done  us  in  extending  to  us  this  hearly  welcome.  God  bless  you, 
and  crown  you  in  your  own  life  and  in  your  public  service  with  great 
success.    (Cheers.) 

Speech  by  Bishop  Warren  (United  States). 

Bishop  Warren,  of  the  United  States,  said :  My  Lord  Mayor,  Ladles 
and  Gentlemen, — I  am  always  glad  to  come  back  to  this  dear  old  isle  of 
my  blood.  (Cheers.)  To  be  sure  I  personally  went  out  about  225  years 
ago  (laughter),  but  the  home  sickness  that  has  haunted  the  race  ever 
since  is  somewhat  satisfied  when  its  love  find  its  feet  once  more  on 
the  soil  of  its  origin.  An  American — my  kind  at  any  rate — is  only  an 
Englishman  by  one  degree  removed — (cheers) — with  the  same  blood, 
the  same  sentiments,  the  same  Bible,  the  same  God  over  all.  Every 
American  is  bom  within  sound  of  Bow  Bells  (laughter) ;  we  hear  them 
"  ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true.". 

There  arc  three  or  four  places  I  like  to  go  to  for  the  "  broad-gauge  " 
view  you  get  of  the  world.  A  friend  of  mine  was  lying  on  a  victorious 
dying-bed  one  Sunday  morning.  "Is  it  fair  outside?"  he  asked. 
"  Fair  and  sunny,"  was  the  reply.  "  Good,"  said  the  dying  man. 
That  gives  me  a  broad-gauge  view  of  the  world.  A  place  to  get 
broad-gauge  views  is  this  Parliament  of  yours  here  on  tho  Thames 
Embankment.  There  they  discuss  all  kinds  of  questions,  and  talk 
about  our  Hong  Kong,  our  South  Africa,  and  so  on.  In  the  body  to 
which  I  belong  you  lind  the  same  sorts  of  discussions,  embracing  the 


Sundai/  Scltoul  Convention.  19 

world  iu  I'iieir  b'Copc.  But  of  all  places  on  the  earth  where  there  is 
community  of  sentiment,  and  a  world-wide  feeling,  it  is  a  Sunday 
School  Convention.     (Cheers.)  • 

I  am  prei^ared  to  appreciate  welcome  to  British  soil,  I  assure  you ; 
for  since  the  beginning  of  the  New  Year  I  have  been  travelling  in 
many  lands,  superintending  our  work  in  South  America ;  and  I  have 
had  opportunities  of  seeing  what  a  nation,  a  country,  a  race  is  without 
the  Word  of  God.  I  have  been  in  countries  where  they  first  burn  the 
Bible — as  many  copies  as  they  can  get— and  then,  fiudiug  men  with 
its  principles  and  spirit  in  their  hearts,  they  burn  them  also ;  and  the 
ashes  are  almost  hot  yet  where  thirty-nine  men  were  burned  because 
they  believed  in  God.  I  have  just  come  out  of  a  nation  where  an 
Ahab  of  a  king,  lured  on  by  his  Jezebel  of  an  unmarried  wife,  plunged 
a  nation  into  a  war  so  sanguinary  that  it  has  reduced  the  population 
from  900,000  to  200,000.  The  men  have  been  almost  entirely  wiped 
out,  until  to-day  there  are  fifteen  women  to  one  man. 

I  stood  in  a  great  hall  trying  to  tell  others  of  the  greatness  and 
power  of  a  royal  peojslo ;  the  signs  of  greatness  were  visible  on  every 
hand.  All  this  was  founded  on  the  Bible,  and  that  Bible  is  made 
effective  by  an  ever  present  and  living  Christ.  Sunday  school 
teachers  and  Sunday  schocjl  workers  desire  for  the  whole  world 
everywhere  as  much  greatness  as  every  Bible-reading  and  Bible- 
obeying  people  has.  We  desire  for  the  whole  world  the  same 
freedom,  the  same  alertness  of  mind,  the  same  breadth  of  thought, 
and  the  same  immortality  of  mstitutions  and  ideas. 

So  we  receive  this  welcome  with  most  loving  gratitude.  We  rejoice 
that  you  have  spoken  to  us  first  by  that  universal  language  which  the 
human  heart  always  understands,  and  which  is  the  very  language  of 
Heaven — the  voice  of  music;  even  where  words  are  not  understood, 
the  language  of  sweetness  and  harmony  and  beauty  is  perfectly 
understood.  Grateful  for  this  welcome  from  the  chief  magistrate  of 
'the  City  of  London,  we  shall  go  to  our  several  fields  of  labour  desiring 
^and  labouring  that  the  great  word  of  the  Infinite  Father  may  be 
planted  in  every  heart  and  spring  up  and  bear  fruit  unto  everlasting 
life.    (Cheers.) 

The  resolution  was  put  to  the  meeting  by  Mr.  Blake,  who  suggested 
that  it  should  be  carried  by  what  they  called  iu  his  country  a 
"standing  vote.''  This  was  accordingly  done,  the  whole  audience 
■uprising. 

The  LoED  Mayor's  reply. 

The  Lord  Mayor,  who,  on  rising  to  reply,  was  received  with  loud 
cheers,  said  :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — I  have  to  thank  you  on  behalf 
of  the  Lady  Mayoress  and  on  my  own  behalf  for  the  very  kind  vote 
of  thanks  you  have  given  us  to-night.  The  Lord  Mayor  during  hia 
term  of  office  is  called  upon  to  perform  many  functions,  and  I  have 
been  called  upon  to  perform  even  more,  I  think,  than  fall  to  the  lot  of 
the  Lord  Mayor  as  a  general  rule.    But  I  can  assure  you  that  none 

c  2 


20  World's   Third 

of  tlicae  duties  haa  uft'urded  me  greater  pleasure  than  tliat  in  which  I 
am  now  engaged. 

The  worthy  bishop  has  tohl  you  that  in  some  parts  of  the  countries 
where  he  lias  been  engaged  tliey  burn  Bibles,  and  in  some  instances,  I 
think,  I  understood  him  that  they  even  burn  missionaries.  Well,  I 
am  thankful  to  say  that  in  this  country  we  neither  do  the  one  nor  the 
other.  But  there  is  a  class  of  people  in  this  country  which  is  not 
favourable  to  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  in  schools.  That  is  a  view 
with  which  I  totally  disagree.  (Cheers.)  It  may  be  objectionable 
to  some  that  denominational  teaching  should  be  given  in  our  public  or 
board  schools  (hear,  hear);  tliat  is  a  subject  into  which  I  will  not 
cuter,  but  that  the  Bible  should  be  taught  in  every  school  is,  in  ray 
opinion,  an  absolute  necessity  (cheers),  because  if,  in  your  training  of 
the  young,  you  ignore  the  religion  of  j'our  country,  you  are  not  train- 
ing them  up  in  the  way  they  should  go.  This  is  a  large  subject,  and 
I  do  not  wish  to  enter  upon  matters  of  controversy  to-night ;  but  I 
should  like  you  distinctly  to  understand  that  the  present  Lord  Mayor 
strongly  feels  that  it  is  right  to  introduce  and  teach  the  Bible  in  every 
school  throughout  the  kingdom.  I  believe,  too,  that  that  has  been 
the  feeling  of  most  of  my  predecessors,  and  I  hope  it  will  also  be 
the  feeling  of  most  of  my  successors.     (Cheers.) 

The  gentlemen  who  have  addressed  us  have  been  good  enough  to 
refer  to  the  cordial  welcome  I  have  given  you.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
Lord  Mayor  to  welcome  to  the  City  of  London  those  guests  who  como 
to  this  country  in  order  that  they  may  study  our  methods  and  systems 
and  thereby  benefit  the  institutions  with  which  they  are  connected. 
I  am  delighted  to  welcome  so  many  connected  with  that  great  institu- 
tion the  Sunday  school.  I  am  gratified  to  know  that  you  will  go 
away  with  a  feeling  of  satisfaction,  and  carry  the  welcome  you  have 
I'eceived  here  back  again  to  the  countries  you  represent.  I  think 
there  was  some  little  feeling  of  disapjiointment  when  it  was  stated 
that  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  the  Lady  Mayoress  and  myself 
and  family  were  to  go  to  dinner.  But  I  assure  you  we  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  listening  to  your  music,  because  our  dinner-table  was  situ- 
ated sufiiciontly  near  to  this  hall  to  enable  us  to  hear  almost  as  well  as 
you.  We  have  been  delighted  with  the  singing.  I  thank  you  for  that, 
and  also  for  giving  me  the  opportunity  of  welcoming  you  to  the  City 
of  London,  and,  as  I  have  already  said,  I  hope  your  efforts  whilst  you 
remain  amongst  us  will  be  crowned  with  abundant  success.     (Cheers.) 

Mr.  A.  B.  jVIcCkillis  then  rose  and  said  :  Will  you  permit  me,  my  Lord 
Mayor,  as  Chairman  of  the  American  delegation,  to  ask  you  to  allow  us 
to  join  with  our  English  friends  in  singing  "  God  Save  the  Queen." 

The  whole  audience  accordingly  joined  in  singing  the  National 
Anthem,  immediately  after  which  the  Doxology  was  sung,  and  the 
meeting  terminated.  But  for  some  time  afterwards  little  groups 
remained  in  conversation,  for  old  friends  had  met  again,  and  new 
acquaintances  were  being  formed,  which  in  many  cases  would  ripen 
into  friendships  before  this  notable  week  closed. 


Sundoy  School  Conveniion.  21 


PRELIMINARY  TRAYER  AND  PRAI8E  MEETING. 
Tuesday    Morning. 

Prior  to  the  assembling  of  the  Conference  at  the  first  session  on  tlie 
first  day,  a  meeting  for  praise  and  prayer  was  held  in  the  City  Temple, 
at  9.20,  lasting  half  au-hour,  under  the  conduct  of  the  Kev.  Robert 
CuUey,  Secretary  of  the  Wesleyan  Sunday  School  Union. 

The  hymn,  "  Sweet  hour  of  prayer,"  was  first  sung,  and  then 

The  Chairman  off"ered  prayer,  imploring  the  Divino  blessing  on  all 
the  sessions  of  the  Convention,  for  inspiration  to  all  who  should  take 
any  part  in  its  devotions,  or  the  discussions,  guidance  to  the  instructors 
to  imjiart,  and  the  youth  to  receive,  Scriptural  instruction ;  and  power 
to  present  the  truth  in  a  winsome  spirit  accompanied  by  a  consistent 
example  on  the  part  of  the  teacher. 

"As  with  gladness  men  of  old,"  having  been  sung,  the  Chairman 
called  upon  Mr.  Liddiard  and  Bishop  Warren,  of  the  United  States, 
to  continue  the  devotions. 

Another  hymn,  "  Our  God,  our  help  in  ages  jiast,"  was  sung,  and 
with  that  cheering,  hopeful  song,  an  edifying  meeting,  in  which  praise 
harmoniously  blended  with  prayer,  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the 
Eev,  Robert  Culley  pronouncing  the  Benediction. 


22  WorlcVs  Third 


FIRST  DAY.— rillST  SESSION. 
Tuesday  Morning,  12tu  July. 

OPENING  MEETING  OF  THE   CONVENTION  IN 
THE  CITY  TEMPLE. 

The  opening  meeting,  as  well  as  the  second,  third,  seventh  aud 
eleventh  sessions,  of  the  Convention,  were  held  in  the  City  Temiilo, 
Holborn  Viaduct — Dr.  Joseph  Parker's  commodious  and  beautiful 
church.  The  joy  of  old  friends  meeting  and  the  pleasure  of  making  new 
acquaintances,  were  tinged  with  a  feeling  of  sadness,  when  four  wreaths 
were  jjlaced  on  the  front  of  the  platform  railing,  in  memory  of  four 
delegates  who  perished  in  the  Bouryofjne  while  on  their  wa>  to  the 
Convention,  tlieir  names  being  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kundi-ll,  Miss  Tower, 
and  Miss  Reeves. 

The  area  of  the  Temple  was  reserved  for  delegates  and  representa- 
tives.    Visitors  were  admitted  to  the  galleries. 

The  musical  arrangements  were  under  the  direction  of  the  London 
Sunday  School  Choir,  the  conductors  on  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Friday 
being  respectively  Mr.  William  Binns,  3Ir.  Jonathan  Rowley,  and 
Mr.  George  Merritt,  G.T.S.C.,  and  the  organists  Mrs.  M.  Lay  ton, 
F.R.C.O.,  Mr.  "W.  F.  Freeman,  and  Mr.  Horace  G.  Holmes.  The 
anthems,  hymns,  and  songs  selected  were  given  in  the  printed 
programme. 

At  10  o'clock  precisely  the  first  session  commenced. 

Mr.  A.  B.  McCrillis,  of  Rhode  Island,  rose  and  said :  On  behalf  of 
the  American  delegates,  and  in  the  name  of  all  the  delegates  in  fact, 
I  move  that  Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey,  Chairman  of  the  Sunday  School  Union 
Council  in  London,  aud  ex-President  of  tliis  Convention,  shall  act  as 
our  Chairman  to-day  in  the  place  of  our  absent  President,  ]Mr.  B.  F. 
Jacobs.  (Cheers.)  All  who  are  bo  minded  will  manifest  their  approval 
by  a  show  of  hands,  or  by  some  other  sign. 

Tlio  motion  was  received  with  unanimous  acclamation  signified  by 
hand-clapping,  which  was  the  accepted  synonym  for  what  is  techni- 
cally called  "  clieers."  That  mode  of  exi^ressiug  approbation  and 
applause  was  adopted  throughout  the  Convention  proceedings. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  accepted  the  call  to  the  Cliairmanship,  and  at 
once  gave  out  the  opening  hymn — 

"  Christ  for  the  world   we  sinsr." 


Sunday  School  Oonvention.  23 

Prayer  was  oifered  by  the  Kev.  Dr.  John  Monro  Gibson,  of  London,  who 
asked  God's  blessing  on  the  Convention,  on  Snnday  schools  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  and  on  the  American  nation  in  particular,  at  this 
time  of  war  and  tumult,  so  that  the  issue  might  bo  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


Mr.  Belsey's  Adduess. 

The  Chairman  :  My  Lord  and  my  dear  friends, — I  am  very  thankful 
that  it  is  not  for  me  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  to  anticipate  the 
duty  which  will  be  far  more  eiEciontly  discharged  a  few  minutes 
hence  by  the  President  of  the  Sunday  School  Union,  the  Marquis  of 
Northampton,  who  will,  upoa  behalf  of  our  Union,  bid  you  all  a  most 
cordial  welcome  to  this  Convention ;  but  I  may  express  the  very 
sincere  joy  I  feel  at  again  meeting  you  all  and  finding  myself  once 
more  at  a  World's  Sunday  School  Convention,  assembled  in  this,  I 
may  almost  say,  historic  building,  tlie  City  Temple. 

I  am  sorry  that  it  devolves  upon  me  to  preside  at  the  outset  of  this 
Convention.  We  all  deeply  regret  the  unavoidable  absence  of  our 
President,  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs.  We  had  hoped  that  he,  with  that 
electric  fire  which  he  seems  to  import  into  every  Convention  he 
attends,  might  have  been  here  to  guide  us  and  to  bless  us  with  his 
presence.  Circumstances,  however,  have  prevented  his  coming  over, 
and  no  doubt  we  shall  presently  receive  the  assurance,  expressed  in 
his  own  handwriting,  of  his  sympathy  with  our  work  and  his  regret 
at  his  absence.  I  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  congratulate  our  dear 
friends,  who  have  just  accomplished  a  somewhat  perilous  voyage,  upon 
their  safe  arrival.  We  are  all  delighted,  clear  American  friends,  to 
grasp  your  hands ;  and  while  we  almost  envy  you  the  glorious  oppor- 
tunitiesof  the  ten  days' travel  for  happyunionand  conference  concerning 
your  work,  we  rejoice  to  know  that  you  escaped  the  perils  attending 
that  voyage.  Your  enthusiasm,  how  warm  it  must  have  been  !  The 
spontaneous  combustion  which  caused  the  firing  of  that  cargo  of 
cotton  stowed  in  the  hold  appeared  to  be  only  the  outcome  of  a 
combustion  that  was  going  on,  I  have  no  doubt,  in  the  saloon  and  the 
cabin.  We  are  all  very  glad  to  welcome  you  amongst  us,  after  you 
have  faced  all  these  perils  of  the  deep.  But  we  cannot  forget  another 
voyage  on  another  vessel.  The  four  memorial  wreaths,  hanging  on 
the  front  of  the  platform  to-day,  and  inscribed  with  the  names  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kundell,  Miss  Tower,  and  Miss  Eeeves,  will  remind  you 
of  the  four  delegates  who  intended  to  bo  with  us  and  who  would  have 
been  here  but  for  God's  mysterious  will.  But  to  our  great  sorrow 
they  fell  victims  to  that  terrible  catastrophe,  the  sinking  of  the 
Bourgogne.  We  grieve  at  that  sad  event,  but  we  rejoice  to  know  that 
amidst  the  confusion  and  the  excitement  of  that  dread  moment,  their 
spirits  sweetly  passed  to  the  great  Convention  above,  there  to  be  for 
ever  at  rest  with  their  Lord.  We  cannot  but  acknowledge  with 
profound  sympathy  the  heavy  blow  which  fell  on  their  relatives  and 


24  WorlcVs  TJilrd 

friends  on  tlic  other  side  of  the  Atlantic ;  and,  with  your  consent,  we 
propose  to  forward  at  once  to  those  relatives  a  letter  of  condolence  in 
this  most  piiinful  bereavement. 

Apart  from  that  sad  incident,  we  assemble,  I  trust,  in  circumstances 
of  gladness  and  of  thankfulness.  We  are  glad  to  meet  one  another. 
We  are  thankful  to  the  great  God  who  has  not  only  guarded  us  and 
brought  us  here,  but  prospered  our  work  since  the  First  Convention 
which  assembled  within  these  walls.  We  all  regret  the  absence  of  the 
President,  Mr.  Jacobs;  but  wo  shall  have,  no  doubt,  in  the  course  of 
our  proceedings,  one  testimony  after  another  to  the  unfailing  presence 
of  the  Divine  Spirit,  for  I  know  it  is  tlie  secret  earnest  desire  of  every 
heart  that,  above  all  human  presence,  there  may  preside  over  this 
assembly  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  that  lie  into  every  heart  may  breathe 
His  own  thoughts,  His  own  purposes,  and  that,  as  the  outcome  of  this 
Convention,  wo  may  presently  distribute  ourselves  to  our  various 
fields  of  work  with  hearts  inspired  afresh,  with  fresh  love  enkindled, 
and  with  a  liolier  determination  that  the  cause  of  the  Sunday 
school  shall  henceforward  be  a  cause  dearer  to  our  hearts,  and 
one  wo  will  promote  by  our  utmost  efforts.  My  duty  for  the 
present  moment  is  simply  to  call  for  the  EoU  of  the  Delegates 
according  to  the  countries,  which  will  be  read  by  Mr.  James 
E.  Liddiard,  the  Chairman  of  the  Keception  Sub-Committee,  to 
whom  I  feel  that  we  owe  a  tribute  of  gratitude,  for  he  has  given 
himself  unremittingly  to  the  work  of  preparation  for  this  great 
assembly.  Without  his  valuable  services,  I  do  not  know  where  wo 
ehould  have  been.     His  services  we  shall  never  forget. 


THE  KOLL  CALL. 

Mr.  James  E.  Liddiard  (Chairman  of  the  Reception  Committee) : 
The  delegation  appears  to  consist  of  2300.  The  largest  delegation  is 
from  the  United  States,  being  about,  as  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  250. 
Will  those  of  our  friends  who  form  part  of  the  delegation  from  the 
United  States  kindly  rise  ?  (Ladies  and  gentlemen  in  various  parts 
of  the  area  thereupon  rose,  and  were  received  by  the  Convention  with 
renewed  cheers.)  The  Canadian  delegation  I  make  out  to  be  about 
20,  so  far  as  I  can  ascertain;  it  may  be  rather  more.  Will  the 
Canadian  friends  kindly  rise  ?  (The  responding  delegates  rose,  and 
were  received  with  cheers.)  From  far-off  India  we  have  17.  Will  our 
Indian  friends  also  kindly  rise?  (They  did  so  amidst  cheers.)  From 
Australasia,  16.  (Cheers.)  From  the  various  countries  of  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe  there  appears  to  be  70,  i.e.  from  Sweden,  Austria, 
Germany,  France,  Switzerland,  Holland,  Belgium.  (Cheers.)  The 
delegation  from  liOudon  seems  to  be  about  300.  Will  our  London 
friends  please  show  themselves  ?  (A  large  number  arose  amidst  much 
laughter  and  clapping  of  hands.)  From  the  provinces  of  England  the 
total  number  appears  to  be  1500.     A  good  many  of  them  have  not  put 


Sunday  School  Convention.  25 

i  n  an  appearance  yet,  as  a  considerable  number  arc  travelling  to-day. 
(Those  present  stood,  and  the  Convention  cheered  them.) 

The  Chairman  :  Now  wo  know  who's  who  (laughter  and  cheers), 
it  is  with  very  great  pleasure  I  call  upon  the  Marquis  of  Northampton 
to  give  to  you  the  hearty  welcome  we  all  through  him  desire  to  ofter. 
The  Marquis  is  here  as  President  of  our  Sunday  School  Union ;  he 
also  sustains  the  office  of  President  of  the  Ragged  School  Union. 
(Cheers.)  He  fills  the  office  of  our  President,  not  from  any  mere  vain 
desire  to  add  to  his  responsibilities,  but  because  he  loves  the  work  in 
which  we  are  engaged,  and  his  whole  heart  is  in  it.  (Cheers.)  There- 
fore, I  ask  you  to  give  him  the  welcome  which  we  so  gladly  accord  to 
a  Christian  nobleman.  (Cheers,  i,e.  hand-clapping  and  waving  of 
handkerchiefs,) 


ADDRESSES  OP  WELCOME. 

The  Marquis  of  Northampton  :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  friends  of 
Sunday  schools,—  It  is  my  pleasing  duty  to  come  amongst  you  to-day  as 
President  of  the  Sunday  School  Union ;  glad  to  welcome  those  wiio 
have  travelled  so  far  to  join  in  this  Convention.  Before  I  say  more, 
I  feel  that  I  must  add  a  few  words  to  what  has  already  fallen  from 
Mr.  Belsey,  as  regards  the  shadow  that  overhangs  the  Convention 
owing  to  the  death  of  four  delegates  on  their  way  to  London.  Wo 
feel  that  the  earth  is  poorer  and  that  heaven  is  richer.  (Cheers.) 
"We  feel  wo  can  hardly  sorrow ;  but  with  their  relatives,  with  their 
friends,  and  with  those  that  are  left  behind,  we  can  offer  our 
deepest  sympathy  (applause),  and  pray  that  the  only  Comforter 
may  console  them.  ("Amen.")  We  trust  that  they,  in  their 
sorrow, jnay  be  aware  that  prayers  are  being  offered  up  during  this 
week  for  those  who  mourn  the  loss  of  some  who  should  have  been 
in  our  midst. 

I  only  wish  I  had  great  eloquence  in  order  to  worthily  discharge 
the  duty  that  is  imposed  upon  me ;  but  I  feel  that  even  the  simplest 
words  will  be  sufficient  for  those  who  have  come  amongst  us.  It  is  a 
hard  task  to  put  into  language  all  the  feelings  we  have  in  our  hearts 
and  minds,  when  our  brothers  come  from  north,  south,  east,  and  west, 
to  unite  with  us  in  London  in  the  furtherance  of  God's  holiest  work ; 
for  Sunday  schools  mean  so  much  work.  One  cannot  realise  how 
much  Sunday  schools  mean,  not  only  for  the  children — God  bless 
them — but  also  for  those  who  have  passed  through  the  schools,  and 
have  found  their  way  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  (Cheers.) 
Sunday  schools  mean  much  to  those  who  had  benefited  by  what  they 
have  learned  there,  and  who  have  been  enabled  to  win  the  race  to  the 
heavenly  goal;  but  what  strikes  me  most  is  how  much  the  Sunday 
schools  may  mean  to  those  who  have  floated  away  from  religion  into 
the  whirlpools  of  sin,  and  of  evil  doing,  and  cf  evil  loving,  and  yet 
whose  drift  to   perdition   may   be   stopped   by  the   recollection,  the 


26  World'a  Third 

memory,  or  the  teaching  they  have  received  in  the  Sunday  school. 
Much  Ims  been  done  in  the  past  in  and  by  the  Sunday  school,  but  tho 
necessity  for  these  institutions  has  not  ceased ;  it  is  a  necessity  ever 
increasinj?,  for  I  fear  it  is  an  undoubted  fact  that,  as  wo  extend  our 
systems  of  national  education,  we  unfortunately  decrease,  amongst 
liundrcds  and  thousands  of  homes,  the  responsibilities  of  the  parents. 
Not  tliat  I  am  opposed  in  any  way  to  the  system  of  States  under- 
taking the  upbringing  and  training  of  children,  far  from  it;  for  I 
believe  it  is  the  only  system  we  can  adopt.  But  at  the  same  time  we 
must  acknowledge  that  many  parents  feel  very  little  responsibility  as 
regards  their  children.  Therefore  the  Sunday  School  Union  exists 
not  only  to  supplement  the  religious  training  in  the  home,  but  actively 
to  take  the  place  of  religious  training  in  the  home  when  it  does  not 
exist  there.  As  Christians  and  Protestants  we  are  met  to  point  out 
the  necessity  of  Sunday  schools,  to  thank  God  for  His  past  mercies, 
and  to  pray  for  renewed  blessings  upon  all  the  work  done  therein. 
(Cheers.)  The  2300  delegates  represent  about  2,500,000  teachers  and 
25,000,000  children.  (Cheers.)  The  first  thought  that  strikes  me  is 
that  the  jsroportion  is  the  right  one,  for  it  gives  ten  children  to  each 
teacher,  which  is  not  an  excessive  charge,  to  which  he  has  to  devote 
jiersonal  training,  personal  influence,  and  personal  attachment,  all  of 
which  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the  children. 

The  mottoes  which  appear  on  the  face  of  the  programme  and  on 
the  delegates'  cards  are  remarkably  well  chosen  for  this  Convention. 
"  With  one  mind  striving  together  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel "  is  an 
apt  text,  for  we  are  united  together  for  tbe  cause  we  profess  to  serve; 
we  are  striving  together,  not  severally,  but  as  one  great  whole,  to  do 
our  best  on  behalf  of  God's  cause  while  we  are  in  the  world ;  we  are 
striving  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  believing  that  God  will  bless  all  our 
endeavours,  and  leaving  it  to  Him  to  carry  them  out  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  Gospel.  (Cheers.)  The  one  true  and  only  way  in  which 
we  can  win  the  children  to  Him  is  by  being  united,  and  I  am  glad  to 
think  that  here,  at  all  events,  all  sectarianism  is  absent.  (Loud 
cheers.)  We  are  nnited  on  one  platform,  for  one  cause,  with  faith  in 
Christ,  and  praying  together  that  His  children  might  be  properly 
looked  after  and  properly  trained.  Then  comes  the  second  motto — 
"  Uniting,  ingathering,  upbuilding."  We  are  united,  for  uuion  is 
strength,  and  we  require  strength  to  combat  the  vice  and  the 
wickedness  of  the  world,  which  are  the  devil's  delights  and  (iod's 
sorrows:  ingathering  human  souls  into  the  great  Church  of  Christ, 
which,  praised  be  His  name,  is  large  enough  and  comprehensive  enough 
for  all  (cheers ;)  upbuilding  the  Kingdom  of  God,  that  glorious  kingdom 
of  the  faithful  which  cannot  be  moved  or  shaken,  and  which  will  last 
through  all  eternity.  Sucli  are  the  objects  of  the  Sunday  school ;  for 
those  objects  we  are  gathered  together  in  tbis  great  Convention ;  and 
to  this  Convention,  in  the  name  of  tho  Sunday  School  Union,  and  in 
Christ's  name,  I  bid  all  fellow-workers  from  all  parts  of  the  world  a 
hearty  and  affectionate  welcome,    (Loud  cheers.) 


Sunday  School  Convention.  27 

The  Chairman  :  There  is  no  more  venerated  worker  in  the  Sunday 
Bchool  than  our  dear  friend  Mr.  Towers,  who  will  now  address  you. 
(Cheers.) 

Mr.  E.  TowEEs  (London). 

As  Chairman  of  the  Convention  Committee  in  Loudon,  I  have  been 
asked  to  express  the  pleasure  with  whicli  we  greet  you  on  this  inter- 
esting occasion.  Coming  as  you  do  from  many  lauds,  and  identified  as 
you  are  with  various  sections  of  the  Christian  Cluirch,  we  give  you  all  a 
hearty  welcome  to  tliis  sea-girt  isle.  (Cheers.)  We  recognise  you  as 
representatives  of  the  two  millions  and  a  half  men  and  women  engaged 
in  this  grand  enterprise — as  ofiScers  of  the  great  Sunday  School  Army 
in  all  quarters  of  the  globe — otRcers  truly,  for  liaving  responded  to  the 
Master's  call,  you  have  received  from  Him  the  Koyal  Commission, 
"  Feed  My  Lambs,"  "  Feed  My  Sheep."     (Cheers.) 

We  have  learned  much  from  these  great  assemblies  in  the  past,  and 
those  of  us  who  were  privileged  to  be  present  at  the  World's  Conventions 
in  London  in  1889  and  at  St.  Louis  in  1893  have  pleasant  memories  of 
tiiose  meetings,  while  the  records  of  the  proceedings  furnish  valuable 
information  and  stimulus  to  those  who  seek  for  guidance  in  Sunday 
school  work.  (Cheers).  As  the  direct  outcome  of  the  last  two  Conven- 
tions, we  see  the  providential  hand  of  God  in  the  appointment  of  special 
Sunday  school  missionaries  for  India  and  for  Japan.  (Cheers.)  What 
special  result  will  follow  from  this  Convention,  it  is  not  for  us  to  pre- 
dict, but  that  it  will  issue  in  some  distinct  advance  in  the  history  of  the 
Sunday  School  Movement,  we  have  not  the  slightest  doubt.  For,  as 
it  has  been  wisely  remarked,  "  What  is  the  use  of  a  Convention,  unless 
it  develops  into  something  beside  talk  ?  "  As  one  result  of  this  Con- 
vention we  would  venture  to  hope  that  special  thought  may  be  given 
to  the  children  of  China,  and  that  another  consecrated  servant  of 
God  shall  be  commissioned  to  organise  Sunday  schools,  and  to  encour- 
age the  missionaries  to  develop  the  movement  among  the  native 
Christians  in  that  densely  peopled  country,  as  this  is  now  being  done 
in  India  by  our  esteemed  missionary,  the  Eev.  Richard  Burges,  and 
is  about  to  be  carried  out  by  our  friend  Mr.  Ikehara  in  Japan. 
(Cheers.) 

In  the  course  of  this  Convention  we  hope  to  obtain  a  general 
survey  of  the  work  the  world  over,  and  to  make  such  suggestions  as 
shall  secure  a  wide  extension  of  the  Sunday  school  system.  If  some 
of  the  time  should  be  taken  up  in  considering  the  technique  of  the 
work,  we  trust  that  it  will  not  be  to  the  exclusion  of  the  greater' 
verities.  We  do  not  wish  that  all  our  time  should  be  occupied  in  the 
study  of  the  machinery  only.  (Hear,  hear.)  It  rests  with  Sunday  school 
teachers  now,  more  than  ever  it  did  in  the  past,  to  endeavour  to 
maintain  the  religious  character  of  the  Lord's  Day,  the  cycle  craze 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding  (cheers);  to  stand  by  the  good  old 
Book  as  the  revelation  of  God  to  Man — its  enemies  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding;    and  to  teach  the  need  of  a  Divine  Saviour  for 


28  World's  Third 

sinners — any  creed  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  (Cbeer.s.)  Tho 
Day,  the  Book,  and  tho  Teacher  must  continue  to  1x5  tlio  cliannels 
through  which  light  and  life  shall  stream  into  the  hearts  and  lives 
of  the  young.     (Cheers.) 

We  regret  that  some  who  would  have  been  with  us  from  across 
tlio  Atlantic  have  been  prevented  by  tho  calamitous  war.  (Hear, 
hear.)  "Wo  miss  especially  the  genial  presence  and  loving  spirit 
of  our  dear  friend  IMr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  who  is  without  exception 
one  of  the  foremost  Sunday  school  men  of  this  century.  (Cheers.) 
It  is  a  somewhat  remarkable  coincidence  that  in  tho  year  1862, 
at  a  general  Sunday  School  Convention  in  London,  when  our 
esteemed  friend  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Vincent,  now  Bishop  Vincent, 
was  present  as  a  delegate  from  America,  he  referred  to  what 
was  then  the  hour  of  tlieir  national  peril.  Thirty-six  years  have 
elapsed,  and  that  country  is  once  again  in  tlie  throes  of  a  war  to  right 
the  wrong— (cheers) — and  we  would  take  this  opportunity  of  ten- 
dering to  our  American  brethren  and  sisters  our  sincere  sympathy 
with  them  in  their  national  trouble,  and  pray  that  there  may  be  given 
to  that  great  country  a  speedy  issue  out  of  the  present  turmoil  and 
strife.  (Cheers.)  It  has  been  my  pleasure  to  visit  America  twice, 
and  on  each  occasion  I  have  been  touched  by  the  number  of  persons  I 
have  met,  who  in  some  way  or  other  desired  to  link  themselves  with 
the  Old  Country.  One  had  a  brother,  sister,  or  relative  in  England  or 
Ireland,  another  whose  father  or  grandfather  came  from  some  well- 
remembered  town  in  Scotland ;  and  each  of  them  were  hoping  that 
they  miglit  have  the  pleasure  some  day  of  visiting  the  homeland ;  a 
pleasure  which,  I  trust,  some  of  you  have  now  realised.  (Cheers.) 
Tho  ties  of  kinship  between  America  and  tliis  land  are  very  close,  and 
our  symi)athies  naturally  go  out  to  our  brethren  across  the  sea  ;  surely 
such  gatherings  as  these  will  help  to  cement  more  closely  a  true 
union  of  the  English-speaking  races.  (Cheers.)  In  addition  to  tho 
largo  delegation  from  the  Metropolitan  and  Provincial  Sunday  School 
Unions,  we  are  glad  to  have  with  us  representatives  from  our  distant 
colonies  and  from  India,  and  some  of  the  devoted  Sunday  school 
workers  from  the  continent  of  Europe,  to  whom  we  hope  the  visit  to 
this  country  will  prove  pleasant  and  profitable.     (Hear,  hear.) 

In  welcoming  you  to  this  great  metropolis,  we  do  not  forget  that 
London  has  been  described  as  wealthy,  worldly,  and  wicked.  I  am 
afraid  we  must  admit  that,  as  a  great  city,  this  description  is  not  far 
from  the  truth.  But,  at  the  same  time,  we  claim  that  London  is  pre- 
eminently charitable  and  Cliristian.  In  proof  of  this  we  have  only  to 
look  around  upon  the  numerous  hospitals,  asylums,  and  churclies,  and 
to  point  to  the  many  societies  that  exist  for  the  extension  of  our  Lord's 
Kingdom.  Several  of  these  great  missionary  and  religious  societies 
are  represented  at  this  Convention,  and  we  welcome  these  noble 
workers,  among  whom  are  to  be  found  some  of  the  grandest  citizens, 
and  the  most  distinguished  Christian  pioneers  of  the  age.  (Cheers.) 
But  we  are  glad  to  remember,  on  such  an  occasion  as  this,  that  the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  29 

Sunday  school  affords  a  field  in  which  all  may  find  a  place ;  and  in 
this  connection  we  are  reminded  of  the  message  of  the  prophet  Elisha, 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  make  the  valley  full  of  ditches ;  ye  shall  not 
see  wind,  neither  shall  ye  see  rain,  yet  that  valley  shall  be  filled  with 
water."  "We  have  yet  many  ditches  to  dig,  and  the  humblest  teacher 
among  the  many  thousands  in  town  and  village  can  help,  if  it  be  but 
to  remove  a  spadeful  of  earth,  for  the  inflow  of  the  Water  of  Life,  and 
thus  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord.  (Cheers)  Relying  upon  the 
conscious  presence  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  our  midst,  and  with  that 
fervent  charity  which  will  cause  each  to  esteem  another  highly  for  his 
works'  sake,  we  would  enter  upon  this  Sunday  School  Convention,  with 
the  assured  belief  that  the  results  shall  be  for  the  furtherance  of  His 
Kingdom,  for  whose  universal  reign  on  earth  we  pray.  (Cheers.) 
Again,  in  the  name  of  the  Convention  Committee,  I  give  you  all  a 
hearty  welcome.     (Cheers.) 

The  Chairman  :  In  the  Roll  Call  I  regret  to  find  that  an  injustice 
was  done  to  a  small  but  most  interesting  colony,  as  we  did  not  note 
the  presence  amongst  us  of  five  representatives  from  Newfoundland. 
If  our  friends  will  rise  in  their  jjlaces,  we  will  give  them  that  kindly 
welcome  which  is  worthy  of  that  great  colony  of  dogs  and  fisheries. 
(Laughter  and  cheers,  amidst  which  the  Newfoundland  delegates  rose 
and  received  a  hearty  recognition.) 


THE  NOMINATION  COMMITTEE. 

Mr.  James  Tillett  (Secretary  of  the  London  Convention  Com- 
mittee) :  On  behalf  of  the  American  delegation  and  by  request  of  the 
delegates  from  other  countries,  I  present  to  you  the  following  list 
for  membership  of  the  Nomination  Committee : — 

England— Edward  Towers,  T.  J.  Cox,  Jas.  Tillett,  E.  W.  Gover. 

United  States— Prof.  H.  M.  Hamill,  C.  D.  Meigs,  E.  K.  Warren, 
C.  N.  Bentley. 

Canada — Rev.  Aquila  Lucas. 

Australasia — A.  Jackson. 

Sweden — Augustus  Palm. 

Mr.  Lucas  was  elected  Chairman  and  Prof.  Hamill  Secretary  of  the 
Committee. 

I  move  the  adoption  of  this  list. 

Mr.  James  E.  Liddiard  :  I  beg  to  second  the  proposal. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  Chairman  :  On  behalf  of  the  churches  of  the  United  Kingdom 
and  Ireland,  an  address  of  welcome  will  now  be  given  by  one  whose 
voice  is  very  familiar  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  whose  name, 
I  am  sure,  is  known  in  every  colony  and  in  every  American  State. 
(Cheera.) 


30  WorlcVs  Third 


The  Kcv.  Dr.  John  Clifford. 

Mr.  President  ami  dear  friends, — I  have  the  honour  to  convey  to  you 
the  greetings  and  goal  wishes  of  the  National  Couneil  of  the  Free 
Evangelical  Churches  of  England  and  Wales,  of  which  Council  I 
have  the  privilege  of  being  President;  and  I  may  add  that  its 
api^earance  in  this  Convention  is  altogether  a  new  feature,  this  being 
the  first  time.  The  Council  represents  nearly  2,000,000  members  of 
churches  in  England  and  Wales,  over  3,000,000  Sunday  school 
scholars,  and  400,000  teachers.  It  is  an  organisation  which  has 
sprung  into  cxis.tence  with  remarkable  rapidity,  and  it  is  remarkable 
for  its  solidity,  for  its  strength,  and  for  its  capabilities  and  usefulness, 
as  it  is  for  the  speed  with  which  it  has  taken  shape  and  taken  hold 
of  the  heart  and  conscience  and  affections  of  this  country.  It  is,  I 
believe,  the  pioneer  of  work  of  this  sort  which  will  very  speedily 
take  form  not  only  in  our  own  Colonies,  but  also  in  the  United  States, 
and,  I  also  think,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  world. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  very  wrong  in  us  to  express  anything  in  the  shape 
of  congratulation  or  surprise  at  such  a  manifestation  of  Christian 
unity ;  yet  it  is,  in  one  aspect — we  ought  never  to  be  divided. 
(Applause.)  We  are  only  just  coming  to  realise  the  Master's  word 
and  approximating  the  realisation  of  the  Master's  idea.  Therefore, 
while  we  are  exceedingly  grateful  for  this  singular  and  glorious 
manifestation  of  our  Christian  unity  among  the  Free  Churches  of 
■  tliis  country,  we  nevertheless  take  f o  heart  the  fact  that  we  have  been 
so  long  in  drawing  towards  Christ's  ideal  and  realising  the  answer  to 
His  prayer.  These  churches  consist  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  of 
Methodists  in  all  their  varieties,  of  Independents  in  their  two  wings, 
of  Congregationalists  and  Baptists,  and  of  Presbyterians,  and  also  of 
the  Salvation  Army.  (Applause.)  So  you  see  that  it  is  a  most 
representative  gathering  ;  and  it  is  undertaking  tasks  of  great  enter- 
prise and  moment,  on  behalf  not  simply  of  the  churches  themselves, 
but  of  the  churches  through  their  Sunday  schools,  for  tliese  churches 
look  upon  these  Sunday  school  teachers  as  a  most  important  arm  of 
their  service,  regarding  them  as  being  in  the  true  Apostolic  succession, 
and  maintain  that  they  have  entered  into  the  heritage,  the  spiritual 
and  indefeasible  heritage  of  the  great  Apostle  Peter,  as  he  received 
the  words  from  the  Master — our  Master  still  living,  ascended,  and 
speaking  afresh  to  us  this  morning — "Feed  My  lambs;  tend,  feed 
My  sheep."  So  that  this  Convention  is  a  gathering  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance and  the  greatest  significance.  We  rejoice  in  it,  we  are  antici- 
pating great  things  from  it.  Our  Sunday  schools  are  the  field  where 
we  have  reaped  nearly  the  whole  of  our  harvests.  (Cheers.)  Five- 
sixths,  certainly,  of  the  grain  gathered  into  the  churches  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  this  country  have  been  reaped  in  the  Sunday  school. 
(Cheers.) 
One  of  the  great  ends  designed  by  such  an  organisation  as  this  is  . 


Sunday  School  Convention.  31 

that  the  Sunday  schoul  workers  uf  the  woild  should  be  brought  to  march 
in  line,  and  that  the  best  things  you  have  in  connection  with  the 
Sunday  school  work  in  the  United  States  should  become  the  property 
of  Old  England.  (Cheers.)  You,  in  America,  are  a  long  way  ahead 
of  ns  in  this,  as  in  so  many  other  things,  and  the  United  States  may 
rejoice  in  that ;  but  we  wish  to  recognise  our  responsibility  to  come 
into  line  with  you  and  to  keep  step  with  30U.  We  mean  to.  (Cheers.) 
In  my  journey  through  foreign  lands  I  found  that  the  Sunday  school 
which  showed  the  finest  equipment  of  all  and  seemed  to  have  the  best 
trained  teachers  was  a  school  I  visited  in  Honolulu  (cheers) ;  but  it 
was  of  American  creation.  (Laughter  and  cheers.)  We  want  not  only 
your  American  creative  faculty  to  inspire  us  in  England,  but  that  tlie 
best  organisation  in  the  world  should  be  adopted  in  Germany,  Austria, 
and  the  whole  of  Europe ;  and  so  our  Svmday  school  work  throughout 
the  globe  shall  be  increased  in  its  efficiency,  and  thereby  its  service  to 
the  Kingdom  of  God  abundantly  extended.  One  of  the  things  which, 
in  travelling  about  this  country,  I  have  discovered  to  be  specially 
needed  is  some  continuous  and  thoroughly  organised  system  of 
training  teachers.  Our  churches  believe  that  all  the  Lord's  people 
are  prophets,  but  they  also  hold  that  a  prophet  may  be  improved  by 
training.  (Laughter  and  cheers.)  Prophets  can  be  trained,  and 
prophets  can  be  improved  by  training.  Even  deacons  and  elders  can 
be  improved  by  training.  (Laughter.)  If  so,  why  should  there  not 
be  the  possibility  of  those  men  and  women,  on  whom  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  has  descended,  organising  such  a  system  of  continuous  training 
of  the  young  life  of  our  churches  as  that  they  shall  come  into  our 
Sunday  school  completely  furnished  for  every  good  work  that  the 
Sunday  school  demands?  (Cheers.)  I  heard  last  week  that  the 
millennium  had  come  to  Boston — not  our  Boston  in  Lincolnshire, 
where  we  do  not  expect  such  things  (laughter) — I  mean  Boston  in  the 
United  States.  Now  it  is  exceedingly  undesirable  that  the  millennium, 
when  it  does  come,  should  come  in  patches.  (Laiighter.)  We  want  it 
all  round  (cheers),  and  to  bring  the  millennium  all  round  we  must 
certainly  devote  ourselves  most  strenuously  to  the  task  of  winning  the 
young  in  our  towns,  cities,  and  villages  to  tiie  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
so  get  them  in  their  early  years  prepared  for  the  work  whicli  it  is 
possible  for  them  to  render  in  connection  with  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
(Cheers.) 

On  behalf,  not  only  of  the  National  Council  of  Free  Evangelical 
Churches  in  England  and  Wales,  but  of  the  whole  of  the  churches  of 
this  country,  the  Anglican  Churches,  as  well  as  the  Free  Churches  in 
Great  Britain  and  in  Ireland,  for  I  am  sure,  notwithstanding  our 
various  differences,  none  can  look  upon  a  gathering  of  such  importance 
and  of  such  a  character  and  calibre  as  this  is  without  wishing  for  it 
the  abundant  blessing  of  Almighty  God.  (Cheers.)  In  the  name, 
then,  of  these  churches,  and  especially  of  the  National  Council  of  the 
Free  Evangelical  Churches,  I  most  cordially  welcome  the  Convention 
to  this  metropolis,  and  wish  for  it  the  crownmg  blessing  of  God,  so 


32  World's  Third 

that  it  may  issue  in  reproductive  benefits  througliout  the  gciierations 
to  come.     (Cheers.) 

"  Come,  thou  fount  of  every  blessing," 

having  becu  sung, 

Tlio  Chairman  said  :  I  shall  now  have  the  pleasure  of  calling  upon 
fiic-nds  from  different  parts  of  the  world  to  rt-spond  to  the  addresses  of 
welcome  to  which  we  have  all  listened  with  so  much  delight.     First 
of  all,  I  invite  the  American  (hdegatcs   to  respond,  through  the  Kev  . 
Dr.  Spalding,  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

RESPONSES. 

The  Chairman  :  May  I  ask  you  to  give  the  salute  in  the  proper 
form  ?  Now  take  your  handkerchiefs  in  your  right  hand,  just  passing 
one  corner  round  the  finger.  Now,  one  to  be  ready,  two  to  be  steady, 
three  to  give  way. 

The  United  States. 
The  Kev.  Dr.  Spalding. 

Dear  old  England !  the  wide,  wide  world  salutes  thee  1  the  imperla 
daughter  among  the  nations  sits  at  the  feet  of  her  Imperial  mother  at 
this  moment. 

AVe  are  proud  and  happy  to  respond  to  the  cordial  and  felicitous  words 
and  welcome  which  has  been  spoken  to  us  and  spoken  to  those  who  have 
come  hero.  This  great  metropolis  lifts  once  again  its  gates  very  high 
to  welcome  this  World's  Sunday  School  Convention.  The  greeting  of 
last  evening  by  the  City  itself  through  the  Lord  Mayor  and  tlie  Lady 
Mayoress,  the  hearty  and  affectionate  greeting  of  the  Marquis  of 
Northampton,  and  the  warm,  tender,  loving  cordial  greeting  of  Mr. 
Towers,  and  the  hearty  words  of  Dr.  Clifford,  have  touched  a  very 
tender  chord,  especially  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  delegation.  "\Vo 
were  told  before  we  came  that  we  would  have  to  go  very  slow  with 
reference  to  any  suggestion,  when  wo  were  in  our  new  aflSnities 
at  this  critical  moment  of  history  with  our  brethren  of  Gnat 
Britain.  But  our  brethren  go  a  great  deal  faster  than  we  can  ever 
think  of  going,  and  if  we  keep  uj)  to  them  we  will  ride  on  the  wings 
of  the  wind  and  make  the  clouds  our  chariot.  If  it  shall  be  that 
history  shall  ever  bring  about  in  any  form  the  consummation  of  an 
Anglo-American  alliance  it  will  be  not  only  a  political  movement  in 
the  spirit  of  commercial  interests,  and  relations,  and  alliance,  but  it 
will  be  saturated  with  the  spirit  of  universal  evangelisation.  And  at 
least  the  heart  of  that  evangelisation  will  be  the  Sunday  school.  For 
we  have  come  to  learn  across  the  sea  as  you  have  come  to  learn  on 
this  side  of  the  sea  that  evangelisation  without  education  is  evapora- 
tion ;  that  education  without  evangelisation  is  enervation ;  that 
evangelisation  and  education  together  mean  emancipation. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  33 

I  am  satisfied  as  I  want  to  bo,  and  I  make  the  suggestion  with  all  duo 
modesty  from  us  as  a  Convention,  that  the  century  plant  of  history  is 
the  institution  of  the  Sunday  school.     The  century  will  close  upon 
nothing  which  adorns  it  more  than  this  one  single  institution.     In 
an  address  a  few  days  ago  I  heard  a  very  significant  collocation  of 
names.    I  was  impressed  with  them.     There  were  five  names  which 
stood  for  so  much,  and  altogether  stood  for  so  infinite  a  much.     These 
names  were  Augustine,  Luther,  Carey,  Kaikes,  Gladstone.     We  are 
proud  of  the  name  of  Raikes,  and  that  it  is  placed  in  the  category.     I 
say  it  is  a  recognition  of  the  relation  which  the  Sunday  school  holds 
to  all  movements  of  great  religious,  and  material,  and  social  progress. 
One  of  our  great  senators,  a  sagacious  statesman,  a  superb  scholar, 
Charles   Sumner,  said,   "  If  you  would  fortify  the  nation  you  must 
sanctify  it.     You  must  make  it  both  citadel  and  temple."     Why  that 
was  a  sentence  from  Mr.  Sumner's  point  of  view  which  stands  fittingly 
alongside   the  statement  of  your  own  great  John  Bright,  that  the 
institution  of  the  Sunday  school  has  done  more  for  England's  posterity 
than  perhaps  any  other  one  institution.     "  The  citadel  and  temple." 
Hold  it  up !     Look  at  it  for  a  moment !     Let  the  light  shine  through 
it  1     What  does  it  mean  ?     I  see  two  figures  standing  this  morning  at 
the  marriage  altar.     Who  are  they  ?    Holiness  and  humanity,  arma- 
ment and  altar,  patriotism  and  piety,  flag  and  Bible,     We  have  come 
to  see  the  relation  of  these  great  co-ordinates  of  history  as  we  have 
never  seen  them  before.     We  have  been  f.ir  too  much  concentrated 
in   the  conception    that    the    great    supreme   dominant   thing    was 
sacramental,  sacerdotal   if  you   please.     But   wo   can   know  in  the 
history  of  this  movement  as  never  before  that  the  human  Christ  is 
abroad  over  the  world  and  breathing  into  it  His  own  holy  flame.     If 
we  wore  to  look  for  a  definition  of  history  for  the  moment  let  it  spring 
up  at  this  Convention.     I  spring  it  at  this  great  work.     What  is  it  ? 
It  is  time  marching  to  the  music  and  to  the  step  of  youth.     That  is 
what  it  is.     There  is  something  of  the  fire  and  the  spirit  of  eternal 
youth.     There  is  a  picture  with  his  lank  form,  scythe  in  hand,  long 
beard,  strident  step,  pursuing  a  little  boy.     And  a  little  negro  child 
was  looking  at  the  picture.     His  mother  said :  "  You  must  close  the 
book,  for  it  is  time  to  go  to  bed."     Reluctantly  he  laid  down  the  book. 
The  first  thing  next  morning  he  turned  to  the  picture,  and  his  clever 
little  face  lighted  up  with  glee  and  gladness,  and  he  said,  *'  He  hasn't 
cotched  him  yet."     If  I  understand  the  spirit  of  the  noble  words  of 
the  Marquis  of  Northampton  this  morning,  they  mean  that  we  shall 
have  no  conception  of  anything  that  shall  be  a  terror  to  childhood 
from  which  it  shall  flee  except  evil  in  every  form,  but  that  over  the 
childhood  of  the  world  there  shall  brood  the  tender  loving  spirit  of 
truth. 

There  are  three  things— I  hasten  more  than  I  would  like — tLere 
are  three  things  specially  in  connection  with  this  Sunday  school 
movement.  There  are  Youth,  Truth,  Duty.  And  I  believe  these  three 
things  are  the  pillars  of  a  great  civilisation.     Ynuth  is  the  bread  of 

D 


34  World's  Third 

history  ;  ywuth  in  tbu  spirit  of  progress ;  youth  is  the  nursery  of  heaven  : 
it  is  the  breath  of  cternul  youth  which  is  upon  the  worhl.  The  next  is 
Trutli.  That  eminent  American  hidy,  Mrs.  Alice  Freeman  Palmer,  says 
she  went  into  a  school  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  she  fcjuud  a  depressed 
spirit  there  and  could  not  comprehend  it.  She  heard  a  little  child 
sitting  on  the  blwk  of  penalty  weeping  as  though  his  heart  would 
break.  At  a  signal  from  the  teacher  two  of  the  larger  boys  came 
and  began  to  pull  down  the  American  flag  which  floated  over 
the  school  building.  Mrs.  Palmer  could  stand  it  no  longer,  and  said, 
"What  does  it  mean?"  The  teacher  said,  "  That  little  boy  has  told 
a  lie,  and  the  American  flag  cannot  float  over  a  building  where  a  boy 
has  told  a  lie."  That  is  what  our  flag  stands  for  ;  that  is  what  your 
flag  stands  for,  truth.  Then  the  final  is  peace.  It  has  been  in  my 
heart,  as  I  know  it  is  in  the  hearts  of  this  delegation,  as  I  know 
it  is  Iq  the  heart  of  our  great  Christian  world,  that  there 
might  come  out  of  this  Convention  one  benediction  that^  should 
guard  the  world.  That  is  our  prayer.  It  is  our  feeling  altogether, 
and  it  is  this  benediction  to  the  wide  world.  There  is  not  a  nation  wc 
leave  out ;  there  is  not  an  island  in  the  sea  but  we  would  touch  it. 
"Wherever  there  is  a  human  life  let  the  benediction  go.  "  The  Lord 
bless  thee  and  keep  thee;  the  Lord  make  his  His  face  to  shine  upon 
thee ;  the  Lord  lift  up  the  light  of  His  countenance  upon  thee,  and 
give  thee  peace." 

The  Chairman  :  Chief  among  the  most  cordial  feelings  that  recent 
events  have  proved  to  exist  between  the  two  great  continents  of 
England  and  America  may  perhaps  well  rank  the  warm  loyalty  that 
exists  in  that  great  Dominion  of  Canada,  which  has  drawn  them  to  us 
and  has  drawn  us  to  them.  We  rejoice  to  welcome  one  of  its  most 
distinguished  citizens  here  to-day  in  the  person  of  the  Hon.  S.  H. 
Blake,  of  Toronto,  and  he  on  behalf  of  Canada  will  respond  to  this 
address  of  welcome. 

Canada. 
The  Hon.  S.  H.  Blake  (^Toronto). 

I  thank  you  for  the  kindly  words  which  you  have  addressed 
to  the  visitors  from  the  frozen  north.  I  think  that  we  are  so 
much  one  that  almost  the  same  delegate  might  answer  for  the 
northern  and  southern  portions  of  the  continent  of  America.  And 
no  people  can  feel  greater  regret  this  day  at  the  absence  of  our 
beloved  friend,  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  than  we  Canadians  do.  I  believe 
it  is  largely  owing  to  overwork  that  he  has  not  been  able  to  be 
with  us,  and  no  man  ever  gave  himself  more  freely  to  Canada 
than  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs.  No  convention  with  us  seemed  to  be  com- 
plete unless  he  or  the  late  Mr.  Eeynolds,  our  late  field  secretary, 
was  present  with  us.  Their  names  are  inspirations,  as  are  also  these 
names  that  we  see  around  this  building — Charles  Wesley,  John 
Wesley,  John  Bunyan,  George  Whitfield — which  have  done  as  much 
for  the  old  land  as  they  have  for  the  continent  of  America,  names  dear 


Sunday  Scliool  Convention.  35 

to  us,  names  beloved,  names  of  men  who  have  fallen  in  the  Master's 
service,  but  who  still  live  in  our  hearts  and  memories.  And,  Mr. 
Chairman,  allow  me  on  the  jiart  of  the  Canadian  delegation  to  say  that 
we  mingle  our  tears  with  yours  because  of  that  event  which  we  cannot 
sec  clearly  to-day,  but  which  wo  shall  see  hereafter,  as  having 
deprived  us  of  four  members  of  this  Convention.  We  know,  however, 
that  underneath  were  the  everlasting  arms,  and  we  know  that  the  sea 
shall  give  up  its  dead,  and  though  the  poor  frail  body  may  be  sunk 
God  opened  the  sea  gate  of  His  heaven  and  gave  them  a  glorious 
entrance.  And,  therefore,  we  sorrow  not  as  those  that  are  without 
hope.     It  is  better.     It  is  good  for  them  to  be  there. 

And  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  suggested  that  the  Englishman  is  cold 
and  is  distant  and  is  repellant.  We  shall  not  take  that  character  back  to 
our  homes.  No  warmer  welcome  could  have  been  given  than  by  that 
most  appropriate  one  when  they  introduced  us  into  the  great  workshop 
from  which  we  borrow  the  only  tool  that  we  want — the  Bible — in  our 
work.  It  was  most  fitting  that  we  should  be  brought  to  that  book 
that  never  changes  and  that  never  need  change,  for  it  is  the  only 
book  that  furnishes  the  one  remedy  for  the  great  world-wide  desire. 
For  we  are  all  of  one  blood,  and  we  all  have  the  infection  of  sin  and 
we  must  never  forget. that  our  Blessed  Lord  in  His  parting  words 
directed  that  they  should  teach  that  which  "I  have  commanded.'' 
We  never  shall  need  a  new  weapon.  We  never  shall  need  another 
sword.  It  is  as  ample  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  nineteenth  century 
as  of  the  first,  and  of  as  many  centuries  more  if  the  world  should 
last.  I  thought  what  a  splendid  commentary  upon  our  book  was 
given  yesterday  when  a  friend  said  to  me,  "  I  want  you  to  buy  for 
one  that  is  going  to  a  certain  examination  some  books  of  science."  I 
said,  "  Haven't  they  got  the  books  of  science  of  seven  or  eight  years 
ago  when  your  child  was  at  school  ?  "  "  Oh !  the  books  of  science  of 
seven  years  ago  are  useless  to-day.  You  must  get  the  new  books  of 
science  if  your  child  is  to  pass  her  examination."  Thank  God  our 
book  is  always  new.  Verhum  Domini  manet.  The  word  of  the  Lord 
remains  ever  new  and  ever  old.  We  want  no  new  book.  We  have  no 
need  for  it.  We  know  how  amply  it  supplies  all  our  needs  and  meets 
those  of  our  children.  And  then  what  a  warm  welcome  we  have 
received  even  as  the  warm  welcome  was  given,  as  the  citizens  of 
London  held  out  their  hand  to  us  through  the  Lord  Mayor  of  this 
great  city  yesterday. 

But,  Mr.  Chairman,  how  peculiarly  pleasant  it  is  to  us  this 
morning  to  be  welcomed  by  those  who  are  around — our  fellow- 
workers  of  the  churches  of  this  great  land.  It  is  very  grati- 
fying to  us  that  this  should  have  been  given  to  us  through  Dr. 
Clifford,  and  through  the  representative  of  that  great  historical 
body,  the  greatest  in  the  world,  the  House  of  Lords,  through  the 
Marquis  of  Northampton.  I  thank  the  Chairman  for  the  kind  words 
that  he  has  spoken  of  the  Dominion.  We  feel  indeed  as  the  children 
of  the  Queen,  and  we  desire  now  to  rise  up  and  call  our  mother 

D  2 


36  Woi'Ms  Third 

blessed.  For,  indeed,  there  is  nothing  tiiat  tlirilla  mou  more  in  the 
Conventions  in  the  United  States  than  tlio  warm  way  that  you 
welcome  that  great  name  throughout  your  groat  land.  "What  is  our 
motto  to  be  ?  Is  it  not  "  The  children  of  the  world  for  Christ  ?  "  Is  it 
not  tliat  we  are  to  bring  them  into  right  relationship  witli  their  God? 
For  I  maintain  that  no  man  and  no  woman  cnn  in  the  truest  sense  be 
in  right  relationship  to  the  parent  or  in  right  relationship  to  the  State 
until  they  arc  in  right  relationship  to  God.  If  you  have  tliat,  all  is 
right.  And  we  point  to  that  other  great  name  written  on  these  walls, 
Oliver  Cromwell.  We  want  every  child  to  bear  away  his  molto, 
"  Fear  God  and  tlicn  you  have  naught  else  to  fear."  If  we  can  once 
get  that  reverent  fear  of  God,  all  falls  into  the  right  and  we  become 
brave  and  true  and  honest  and  just.  It  is  well  that  our  State  should 
undertake  the  education  of  our  children.  It  is  well  tliat  everyone 
should  be  given,  as  it  is  called,  the  three  K's,  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic  ;  but  what  we  want  them  to  have  is  the  fourth  R,  religion 
instilled  into  tlie  heart  in  order  that  they  may  know  how  rightly  to 
use  the  education  that  is  given  by  the  State.  Because  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  if  we  give  them  tliat  State  education,  and  that  alone,  we 
are  making  them  skilled,  and  we  are  training  it  may  be  for  great 
evil.  We  are  making  it  easier  for  them  to  work  out  what  is  wrong. 
Therefore,  although  we  are  here  with  our  various  thoughts,  some 
believing  in  denominational  teaching  which  I  from  my  heart  do  not 
believe,  and  some  believing  in  a  little  of  the  Bible  and  some  in  more, 
I  believe  we  should  all  take  our  stand  on  the  question.  Is  the  teaching 
in  the  State  schools  to  be  Christian  or  is  it  to  be  non- Christian?  It 
is  not  to  be  denominational  teaching  but  simply  the  word  of  God 
taken  as  the  great  text-book,  and  the  great  object  lesson  presented 
every  day  to  every  child  that  there  is  a  God,  tliat  He  has  given  to  us 
His  Word,  and  that  that  Word  of  God  gives  light  and  gives  life  and 
gives  strength. 

But  with  all  our  varied  thoughts  upon  this,  we  are  here  met  with 
the  one  thought  whether  the  State  does  much  or  whether  the  State 
does  little,  God  has  opened  to  us  a  great  door.  God  has  given  to  lis 
great  means,  and  God  has  given  to  us  His  Word,  and  He  has  given  to 
us  the  thought  that  that  Word  feeds  the  soul,  and  while  the  body  and 
while  the  mind  may  be  otherwise  taught  that  great  real  ever-existing 
portion,  the  soiil  is  not  to  be  neglected.  This  is  a  great  voluntary 
movement.  The  truth  has  been  given,  and  our  thought  is  that  we 
must  have  this  word — love,  honour,  respect,  and  pardon. 

I  thank  you  for  the  hearty  welcome,  I  thank  you  for  the  loving 
feeling.  If  there  was  naught  else  from  these  Conventions,  it  is 
enough  that  we  are  brought  together,  that  we  arc  bound  together, 
that  we  are  united  together,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  uidiftcil  as  the 
central  thoiiglit,  and  that  we  have  been  brought  near  to  him.  We 
are  united  in  those  bonds  which  never  end.  God  bless  and  God  help 
and  God  give  great  spiritual  fruit  from  this  Convention  for  Jesus 
Christ's  sake,  Amen. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  37 


Australia. 


Tlie  Chairman  :  Now  we  pass  round  to  the  very  Antipodes,  and  we 
summon  our  Australian  representative  in  the  welcome  person  of 
Mr.  Stocks,  whose  journey  to  the  Conference  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  enabled  him  kindly  to  discharge  the  duty 
here  of  representing  the  Australian  Colonies, 


Mr.  Stocks  (  Victoria). 

Christian  Friends, — On  behalf  of  Australia,  with  which  are  gathered 
many  countries,  speaking  many  languages,  we  thank  you  for  jour 
hearty  Christian  welcome  to  those  from  the  other  side  of  the  globe. 
Now  in  my  country  they  are  retiring  to  rest  after  the  labours  of 
the  day;  ours  are  beginning.  I  am  glad  that  one  from  Australia 
is  able  to  show  himself  to  an  English  audience,  because  Englishmen 
and  Britishers  have  somewhat  strange  ideas  about  Australia.  I  am 
glad  to  show  that  whatever  we  are  internally  we  are  not  black 
externally.  We  are  a  country  of  much  interest.  The  island  of 
Australia  is  really  a  large  continent.  New  Zealand  and  Tasmania, 
altogether  forming  Australasia,  could  just  take  in  Europe.  We  also 
are  a  people  of  large  ideas.  I  think,  Sir,  that  that  must  run  in  the 
blood,  because  wo  find  our  cousins  across  the  Atlantic  have  also  large 
ideas  of  themselves.  Well,  we  in  Australia  have  not  only  large  ideas 
of  ourselves,  but  we  show  by  our  acts  that  we  deserve  to  have  those 
ideas.  Advance,  Australia !  is  our  motto,  and  we  do  advance.  Why, 
friends,  many  many  years  before  such  a  thing  was  heard  of  in  the 
British  or  American  legislatures  we  had  vote  by  ballot.  We  set  them 
tiie  example.  They  did  well  to  follow  it.  Years  ago  we  passed  an  Act 
legalising  marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister.  I  am  glad  to  see 
the  other  day  by  the  papers  that  our  House  of  Lords  has  passed  a 
motion  for  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill  kindly  legalising  the 
children  of  such  marriages  so  that  they  can  inherit  landed  property  in 
England.  Our  Governor,  Lord  Brassey,  and  our  late  Orovernor  of 
New  South  Wales,  Lord  Carrington,  I  am  glad  to  say,  were  on 
the  winning  side.  I  forget  the  list  of  noble  lords  on  that  side,  but  I 
hope  our  honoured  Marquis  of  Northampton  was  also  on  the  right 
side,  and  we  know  that  the  right  side  is  always  our  side. 

England  looks  upon  London  as  the  capital  of  the  world.  We  look 
at  Melbourne  as  the  capital  of  Australia.  Please  don't  tell  New 
South  Wales  that,  though,  or  else  I  may  not  be  permitted  safely  to 
visit  New  South  Wales  when  I  return.  Federation  is  in  the  air,  and 
federation  is  our  watchword  in  every  cause  that  we  consider  for  the 
benefit  of  the  colonies.  Victoria,  South  Australia,  and  Tasmania 
have  voted  for  federation.  The  others,  we  hope,  will  come  in  after- 
wards. Long  ago — thirty  years  ago  I  think  it  is  now — the  three 
Presbyterian  Churches  united.     We  have  no  United  Presbyterian 


38  World's  Third 

Church,  no  Frco  Church,  uo  National  Church— all  are  united— the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  tlie  Colony  Victoria.  Vigorous  union  is 
also  to  bo  found  in  our  Sabbath  schools.  We  have  our  branch  there 
of  the  Sunday  School  Union.  We  do  what  we  can  in  what  we  call 
the  bush,  you  call  it  the  country.  Persons  take  up  the  land  for 
farms  scores  of  miles  perhaps  from  the  centres  of  population,  and 
there  we  find  men  and  women  who  toil  liard  during  the  day  gathering 
a  few  children  about  them  in  their  own  houses  tiiere  to  teach  the 
children  the  Word  of  Life.  These  are  helped  by  us  in  every  possible 
way  by  grants  of  books ;  another  way  we  help  is  by  forming  bush 
libraries.  A  small  case  of  books  is  made  up  which  is  lent  to  one  of 
these  Bush  Mission  schools.  After  tlieso  books  liave  been  read  they 
are  returned,  and  another  case  is  sent,  the  first  case  going  to  another 
centre  ;  and  so  we  try  to  interest  the  children  in  religious  literature 
as  well  as  teaching  them  the  truths  of  the  Gospel. 

Mr.  Towers  thought  fit  to  make  an  apology  for  London.  Well, 
Dr.  Clifford  said  that  training  improves  persons — travelling  also 
improves  persons.  If  Mr.  Towers  were  to  visit  Melbourne  he  would 
see  that  he  had  some  need  to  apologise  for  the  City  of  London.  There 
our  public  houses  by  law  are  closed  on  the  Sabbath  day.  No  publican 
is  allowed  to  sell  any  liquor  excei^t  to  any  one  who  proves  that  he  has 
travelled  ten  miles  or  more  on  that  day.  Otherwise  the  bar  is  locked, 
and  it  is  illegal  to  unlock  that  bar.  So  we  do  what  we  can  to  raise 
the  population,  raise  their  thoughts,  raise  their  desires,  teaching  them 
that  this  is  not  their  country,  but  that  they  must  seek  a  better  and  a 
higher  and  a  holier  country. 

Therefore,  on  behalf  of  Australasia,  I  thank  you  again  for  the  kind 
welcome  that  you  have  given  to  us.  The  very  first  person  we  met 
when  we  landed  here  from  Melbourne  was  our  Chairman.  He  kindly 
extended  to  us  his  hand  of  Christian  welcome.  And  from  other.-? 
since  then  we  have  found  nothing  but  heartiest  greetings  and  kimlly 
feelings.  Therefore  again,  Christian  friends,  allow  me  to  thank  you, 
on  behalf  of  Australia,  for  the  welcome  you  have  given  us. 


Germany. 

The  Chaiuman  :  I  have  now  to  call  upon  the  representatives  oi 
Europe,  and  first  of  all  Professor  Fetzer,  of  Germany,  will  say  a  few 
words  to  us. 

Professor  Fetzer  (^Germany). 

Mr.  Chairman,  President,  and  Fellow-Workers  in  the  Sunday 
schools, — Hitherto  all  who  have  addressed  us  have  been  of  one 
tongue,  speaking  chiefly  the  English  language.  I  come  to  you 
as  the  representative  of  Germany  to  address  you  on  behalf  of 
the  Sunday  school  work  that  has  been  carried  on  in  Europe.  It 
gives  me  great  pleasure  to  attend  this  third  World's  Sunday  School 


Sunday  ScJipol  Convention.  39 

Convention,  as  I  have  had  the  honour  and  tlie  pleasure  to  be  present 
at  the  first  which  met  in  this  room,  and  the  second  which  met  at  St. 
Louis,  as  has  been  mentioned  before,  in  1893.     The  results  of  those 
Conventions,  and  the  inspiration  which  all  of  those  who   attended 
them  received  from  them,  encouraged  mc  to  come  over  here  to  attend 
this  third  Convention.     And  seeing  the  hearty  welcome  which  wo 
have  received,  those  of  us  who  have  come  from  far  away,  whether 
from  Europe  or  from  America,  or  from  Australia,  or  India,  or  Japan, 
from  that  welcome  I  say  I  feel  much  more  encouraged,  and  glad  that 
I  am  here  to  speak  to  you,  and  to  listen  to  what  has  been  said  to  us 
during  the  sessions  that  may  be  held  here  through  the  next  few  days. 
Our  work  in  Germany  is  in  many  respects  widely  different  work 
from  that  which  is  carried  on  either  in  England  or  in  America,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  religious  condition  and  state  of  affairs  is  quite 
different  from  that  in  those  countries  I  have  just  named.    We  therefore 
feel  above  everything  else,  that  it  is  of  great  interest  to  us  to  come  over 
here  and  learn  from  the  friends  that  are  far  in  advance  of  us  in  Sunday 
school  work.     I  have  had  occasion  to  look  into  Sunday  school  work  in 
the  United  States  on  different  occasions,  having  spent  there  a  number 
of  years,  and  having  visited  it  once  or  twice  since  I  have  been  in 
Germany.     And  I  always  feel  that  the  work  there  is  quite  in  advance 
of  anything  that  can  be  done  or  can  be    said   of  our  work  in  Ger- 
many.    One  reason  of  this  difference  is,  as  I  have  already  indicated, 
the  difference  of  the  State    Church   to   the   free   churches,  and  the 
position  that  they  take   towards   every  undertaking  that  is  entered 
upon  by  the  free  churches  in  furtherance   of  the   cause  of  Sabbath 
school  work.     I   might   mention,    without   exaggeration   at   all,  the 
various  hindrances  and  the  many  obstacles  that  are  put  in  the  way 
of  the  small  free  church  Sunday  schools  in  different  parts  of   Ger- 
many.    They  labour  under  difficulties  in  consequence  of  this  of  which 
you  in  England,  much  less  those  in  the  United  States,  have  not  the 
slightest  idea.     The  children  are    gathered   by  our  people  into  the 
Sunday  schools  here  and  there.     Thank  God,  the  Sunday  school  work 
is  prospering.     Sunday  school   work   is   increasing   in   spite  of   the 
obstacles  and  hindrances  that  are  put  in  the  way  of  the  workers  in 
the  free  churches.     But  it  would  prosper  far  more,  and  would  spread 
out  to  a  far  greater  degree  in  all  parts  of  Germany,  if  there  were 
not  so  many  narrow-minded — I  do  not  wish  to  say  all  of  them,  but 
some  of  tliem— narrow-minded  State  clergymen,  who  have  the  control 
of  the  public  schools  in  their  hands.     They  do  a  great  deal  to  hinder 
the  Sunday  school  work  of  the  free  churches.     This  is  particularly 
true  of  Saxony,  the  land  of  Luther,  but  it  is  not  only  true  there,  it 
is  true  elsewhere,  and  we  feel  therefore  that  it  is  always  necessary 
for  us  to  come  and  receive  something  of  an  inspiration  from  you  here 
at  this  gathering  as  it  is  assembled  before  us. 

Our  work  is  carried  on,  inasmuch  as  we  can  do  so,  in  about  the 
same  way  that  it  is  carried  on  elsewhere.  The  papers  and  maga- 
zines which  we  receive  from  England  and  America  help  us  to  get 


40  World's  Third 

an  insight  into  the  work  as  it  is  doiio  in  tlicse  countries,  and  as  far 
as  it  is  possible  wo  try  to  adapt  these  ideas  to  the  particular  work  of 
the  Continent.  We  cannot  accept  all  the  ideas  which  are  pre- 
sented to  us  in  these  papers,  because  not  only  of  the  difference  of  the 
language,  but  of  the  difference  of  the  state  of  things,  nevertheless,  as 
far  as  we  are  able  to  appropriate  them  we  do  that  gladly.  Your 
magazines,  as  I  have  said,  and  your  papers,  have  given  us  very  much 
encouragement  in  many  ways,  and  when  wc  arrived  here  to-day,  as 
I  may  say,  in  larger  numbers,  I  think,  tlian  nine  years  ago,  we  come 
here  with  the  same  purpose  in  view,  to  learn  of  those  that  have  a 
greater  experience  in  this  work  than  we  have,  and  we  shall  go  back 
to  our  native  countries  to  work  among  our  people  with  the  heart  and 
a  purpose  of  doing  them  more  good,  being  encouraged  by  what  we  hear 
during  the  following  days. 

■yVe  liave  our  Sunday  School  Union  among  the  Dissenting  churches 
that  assembles  every  three  years.  There  were  not,  I  dare  say,  as  large 
a  gathering  as  there  is  here.  There  were  only  about  forty  or  fifty  of 
us ;  but  we  were  glad  to  see  so  many  from  different  parts  of  Germany 
gathered  there  to  consider  the  work  of  the  Sunday  school  in.  that  land. 
What  gladdened  the  heart  of  more  than  one  person  was  the  fact  that, 
as  the  question  was  raised  by  one  of  those  present,  "  How  many  of 
those  that  are  now  teachers,  and  at  the  head  of  Sunday  schools,  were 
converted  during  their  stay  in  the  Sunday  schools,  or  as  Sunday- 
school  scholars  ?  "  About  one-half  of  them  rose,  and  confessed  that 
they  had  been  converted  while  in  the  Sunday  schools.  And  a  further 
number  rose  when  the  question  was  put  as  to  how  many  were  converted 
before  they  were  twenty-one,  having,  at  the  same  time,  come  out  of 
the  Sunday  school  work.  And  I  think  there  were  two-thirds  or  more 
that  rose  and  said  :  "  We  were  all,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  result  of 
the  work  of  the  Sunday  school."  So  you  see.  Christian  friends  and 
fellow-labourers,  that  our  work  in  Germany  is  not  in  vain. 

We  want  to  be  encouraged  by  what  we  hear.  We  want  to  be  stimu- 
lated by  what  we  hear.  We  want  to  receive  new  ideas  by  what  will 
be  presented  to  us  here  during  the  following  days,  and  we  hope 
to  go  back  encouraged  and  stimulated  for  the  work  that  we  are 
called  upon  to  do.  And  we  feel  that  if  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  speaks. 
Ho  has  been  asked  to  be  with  us  this  morning,  and  He  will  be  with  us 
during  all  our  sessions  ;  all  of  us,  from  whatever  region  we  may  come, 
will  go  back  saying,  "  The  Lord  has  been  with  us.  His  Spirit  has  been 
resting  upon  us  " ;  and  the  work  that  is  done  will  give  a  new  impetus 
and  a  greater  impulse  to  all  the  Sunday  school  workers  in  every  part 
of  the  world.     May  God  help  us  ! 

The  Chairman  :  We  have  a  distinguished  representative  of  Germany 
here  with  us  this  morning,  whose  voice  I  know  you  will  all  like  to 
hear.  Those  of  us  who  remember  the  diplomatic  circle  at  the  Court 
of  St.  James's  oome  thirty  years  ago,  will  retain  honourable  recollections 
of  the  distinguished  German  ambassador  of  that  time,  Count  Bernstorff. 
Wc  arc  very  glad  to  have  the  Count  Bernstorff  of  another  generation  aa 


Sunday  School  Convention.  41 

ambassador  of  the  Sunday  school  workers  of  Berlin  at  this  Convention 
I  will  ask  Count  BernstorfF  to  address  you. 

Count  Bernstorff  {Berlin). 

Dear  Christian  fellow-workers, — You  must  excuse  me  speaking.  I 
only  do  it  in  obedience,  as  I  am  a  kind  of  addition  to  the  printed 
programme  of  this  morning.  But  it  is  a  great  pleasure  for  me,  as 
one  who  stands  for  tliirty-four  years  in  Sunday  school  work,  to  address 
this  great  assembly  of  fellow-workers.  And  I  am  also  very  happy  to 
give  a  testimony  of  gratitude  to  all  the  Sunday  School  Union  has  done 
for  us  in  the  years  which  lie  behind  us.  Then  let  me  express  grati- 
tude for  the  reception  which  we  met  here,  and  which  was  also  given 
to  us  last  night.  It  makes  always  a  great  impression  on  us  to  see  in 
the  City  of  London,  and  by  its  first  rejiresentative,  such  a  testimony  is 
given  to  this  Sunday  school  work. 

Sunday  school  work  was  begun  in  Germany  thirty-four  years  ago. 
The  pastors  were  jealous  of  it,  and  especially  the  schoolmasters  were 
jealous,  because  looking  at  the  name  Sunday  school  they  thought  it 
was  in  opposition  to  their  work.  They  thought  that  it  was  their  task 
to  educate  the  young.  But  it  was  never  the  intention  of  the  Sunday 
school  to  act  as  a  substitute  for  the  ordinary  school.  We  know  that 
the  school  alone  cannot  do  everything  for  men,  as  they  continue  to  be 
educated  all  through  their  life.  There  must  also  be  one  other 
instruction  besides  the  influence  of  the  school,  and  it  is  the  influence 
of  the  Bible  which  is  taught  by  the  Sunday  school.  In  some  way  the 
diiference  between  your  country  and  the  United  States  of  America  on 
one  side  and  our  country  on  the  other  has  diminished,  in  so  far  as 
formerly  here  in  England  and  also  in  America  the  Sunday  school  was 
necessary,  because  there  were  not  so  many  public  schools.  I  mean  the 
public  school  system  was  not  in  such  perfection  as  it  is  now.  But 
since  here  in  England  the  public  schools  have  come  to  their  present 
height,  I  think  you  will  recognise  that  the  Sunday  school  does  not 
attempt,  as  it  originally  did,  to  take  the  place  of  the  public  schools- 
it  supplements  them.  It  is  a  place  where  the  children  are  to  be 
brought  into  contact  with  their  Saviour.  Now,  we  have  not  been  able 
to  give  up  the  name  of  Sunday  school,  on  account  of  that  opposition 
against  it  on  the  part  of  the  schoolmasters,  because  that  name  of  Sunday 
school  is  one  that  is  used  in  all  the  languages  of  the  world,  and  I  may 
say  that  the  name  of  Sunday  school  is  deeply  rooted  in  the  hearts  of 
all  those  who  have  ever  been  connected  with  this  work.  We  can  never 
give  up  that  name. 

But  now  I  am  happy  to  say  that  these  prejudices  have  to  a  great 
extent  vanished.  It  is  diflicult  for  us  to  give  exact  statistics.  I 
wanted  to  bring  you  data  of  our  Sunday  schools  in  the  State  churches, 
but  it  was  not  possible  because  we  could  not  in  the  time  given  to  us 
draw  up  exact  figures.  The  data  known  to  us  are  still  the  same 
which  were  mentioned  in  1893  at  the  St.  Louis  Convention.      But  I 


42  World's  Third 

am  convinced  that  the  Sunday  ecliool  movement  has  increased  since 
that  time.  And,  speaking  of  the  large  city  of  Berlin,  there  is  not  one 
church  without  a  Simday  school  connected  with  it.  When  the  Sunday 
school  movement  began  there  were  in  Berlin  only  four  children's 
services.  In  all  the  other  churches  there  was  nothing  done  for  the 
children.  Now  there  is  not  one  church  without  a  Sunday  school, 
and  in  most  parishes  there  are  a  great  many  more  than  one,  because, 
besides  tlie  Sunday  schools  held  in  the  churches,  we  have  those  con- 
ducted by  the  City  missions  and  by  other  agents  of  home  mission 
work.  Therefore,  we  are  fully  convinced  that  this  work  will  continue, 
and  we  trust  that  the  Lord's  blessing  will  ever  attend  it. 

Sweden. 

The  Chairman  :  Wc  shall  now  welcome  another  distant  worker, 
Pastor  Truve'. 

Pastor  Tkute  (^Sweden). 

Mr.  Chairman,  my  Christian  friends, — I  am  somewhat  embarrassed 
to  stand  here  before  such  a  large  audience  as  I  have  not  spoken  in 
your  language  for  the  last  five  years.  I  was  presented  as  a  Swede. 
That  is  true,  but  I  have  a  mixture  of  American  and  English  and 
Swedish  in  my  frame.  I  was  born  in  Sweden,  and  partly  educated 
in  an  American  University  in  that  country.  INIy  first  wife  was  an 
American,  and  my  second  wife  was  an  English  woman.  (Much 
laughter.) 

I  come  here  for  three  purposes,  and  I  have  three  objects  in  view. 
The  first  thing  is,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  thank  you  for  all  the  benefits  wc 
liave  derived  from  the  Sunday  School  Union  in  England.  The 
Sunday  School  Union  has  helped  us  during  the  last  twenty-five  j'ears, 
helped  us  nobly  and  generously,  and  given  us  means  to  support  some- 
times twenty  missionaries,  who  travel  north,  south,  east,  and  west 
in  Sweden,  and  establish  new  Sunday  schools.  When  I  think  of  the 
work  this  Union  has  done  in  Sweden,  I  say  it  is  not  only  Sunday 
school  work,  it  is  missionary  work.  Thousands  have  blessed  God  for 
having  been  brought  under  the  influence  of  Christianity  through  this 
Sunday  School  Union. 

The  second  thing  I  wish  to  say  is  that  I  have  come  here  to  learn. 
Wc  have  adopted  in  the  past  many  things  from  England  and  America 
with  regard  to  Sunday  school  work,  and  we  have  come  here  as  a 
deputation  to  gather  fresh  ideas  from  this  Convention. 

I  wish  to  express  another  thought  before  I  leave,  to  tell  you  that  we 
have  had  many  great  blessings  during  the  last  year,  especially  in  our 
Simday  school  work.  Whenever  I  have  taken  up  my  Swedish 
religious  paper  this  winter,  and  looked  into  it,  I  have  found  that 
everywhere  in  Sweden,  in  Sunday  school  work,  many  have  been 
converted.  We  have  never  had  such  a  blessing  in  Sweden  as  lately. 
There  has  been  a  wonderful  pouring  out  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  God 
has  blessed  us  greatly  in  our  work.    I  hope  you  will  not  leave  us 


Sunday  School  Convention.  43 

when  we  need  further  help  to  continue  our  great  work  alone  in  that 
large  country.     I  say  large,  because  our  poi^ulation  is  so  scattered. 

I  will  not  detain  you  longer.  I  am  glad  of  the  opportunity  of 
saying  a  few  words,  and  I  thank  you  for  the  hearty  welcome  we  have 
received  as  delegates  from  Sweden. 


India. 

The  Chaieman  :  Perhaps  no  result  of  the  Convention  last  hold  in 
this  building  equalled  in  importance  the  mission  of  our  dear  friend,  Dr. 
Phillips,  as  a  Sunday  school  missionary  to  India ;  but  this  morning 
we  have  one,  who,  I  think,  longer  even  than  Dr.  Phillips,  and  before 
his  mission  commenced,  was  identified  with  this  noble  work.  And 
there  is  no  memory  in  India  more  honoured  in  Sunday  school  work 
than  that  of  Bishop  Thoburn.  I  am  glad  to  call  upon  him  to  say  a 
few  words  on  behalf  of  India. 


Bishop  Thoburn  (India). 

In  responding  on  behalf  of  India  to  the  kind  words  of  welcome 
which  have  been  extended  to  us,  I  think  nothing  could  be  more 
appropriate  tlian  for  me  in  the  iirst  place  to  express  our  profound 
gratitude  that  India  is  represented  here  at  all.  And  in  this  I 
probably  express  the  feeling  of  many  before  me.  When  yon  hear  of 
what  is  popularly  called  a  heathen  country,  you  are  not  usually 
supposed  to  expect  that  anytliing  could  well  come  from  it.  India 
still  ranks  among  the  great  heathen  powers  of  the  world,  but  there  is 
a  strong  Christian  element  there,  and  I  am  very  glad  to  say  that 
India,  including  Malayia,  is  here  this  morning  in  the  persons  of  the 
seven  delegates,  representing  more  than  5000  Sunday  schools,  and 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  Sunday-school  scholars.  "Well,  this 
may  not  seem  like  a  large  working  force,  yet  I  think  that  when  you 
come  to  consider  your  statistics  you  will  find  that  the  ratio  of  increase 
since  the  last  meeting  of  this  Convention  has  been  greater  in  our 
country  than  in  any  other  country  represented  here. 

Then  you  will  bear  in  mind  also  that  while  our  work  as  Christians 
is  somewhat  circumscribed,  we  speak  on  behalf  not  only  of  a  great 
country,  but  of  a  great  empire.  With  a  single  exception,  India  is 
the  most  populous  empire  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  I  am  not 
sure  that  there  is  an  exception.  For  China  is  falling  to  pieces  rapidly. 
Now  you  must  remember  that  we  represent  not  only  India  proper  but 
also  the  Malay  Peninsula  and  the  great  islands  beyond,  including  the 
Philippine  Archipelago.  Wiien  you  met  at  your  last  Convention  there 
was  no  Protestant  labourer  admitted  to  that  field.  There  is  a  Christian 
flag  that  waves  at  Manila  this  morning.  Christian  Sunday  schools 
must  soon  be  planted  upon  these  rich  and  promising  islands,  and  I 
think  I  give  expression  to  the  feelings  of  40,000,000  or  50,000,000  of 


44  World's  Third 

people  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  wLeu  I  say  that  the  flag 
which  now  protects  the  Christian  preacher  and  teacher  at  Manila 
will  wave  as  long  as  there  is  a  Christian  nation  called  America. 
(Loud  applause.) 

In  the  last  twenty-five  years  there  has  been  a  remarkable 
development  of  Sunday  school  work  in  India  and  Malayia.  In 
the  first  place  it  has  been  discovered  that  the  Sunday  school  has 
been  peculiarly  adapted  to  shield  and  command  the  children  of 
our  converts  and  the  converts  themselves.  There  was  nothing 
new  in  discovering  tiiat  children  would  find  the  appropriate  place 
for  instruction  and  culture,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  in  the 
Sunday  school,  but  the  missionaries  were  a  long  while  discovering 
that  the  great  mass  of  their  converts  were  practically  but  children 
in  understanding,  and  that  there  was  a  most  teacljable  spirit  among 
the  young  men  and  women  of  India  and  Malayia.  So  the  Sunday 
school  has  incorporated  in  ils  ranks  a  great  many  of  these  con- 
verts during  the  last  five  or  ten  years.  There  is  another  discovery, 
also  of  very  great  importance.  It  is  this.  The  Sunday  school  in 
India,  and  I  supi3oso  it  is  true  of  China,  is  a  powerful  and  most 
successful  evangelising  agency.  In  other  words,  we  reach  the  adults 
through  the  children.  If  you  come  to  any  part  of  the  great  Indian 
field,  you  may  find  your  Sunday  school  under  a  village  tree,  in  a 
mission  chapel,  in  one  of  the  school  buildings,  or  perhaps  on  some 
retired  verandah.  But  wo  have  one  thing.  The  children  all  learn  to 
sing  gospel  hymns  to  native  tunes.  When  these  little  folks,  most  of 
whom  are  boys,  go  up  and  down  the  village  street  and  enter  their 
homes,  they  are  singing  these  blessed  old  hymns,  some  of  them 
Moody  and  Sankey's  translated,  some  put  to  tunes  of  their  own.  In 
the  villages  and  in  their  homes  they  sing  these  songs,  and  so  the 
villagers,  the  mothers  especially,  receive  a  privilege  that  they  could 
not  get  in  any  other  way.  The  mothers  cannot  join  the  village  con- 
gregation as  a  rule,  and  are  generally  inaccessible  to  the  missionary, 
But  their  ears  are  open  to  the  songs  of  their  children,  and,  as  it  has 
often  been  said,  there  is  more  doctrine  sung  to  the  people  than  ever  is 
taught.  Then  we  gather  large  numbers  of  these  people  into  tlic 
Sunday  school.  The  doorways  and  windows  are  usually  filled  with 
men  who  are  called  heathen.  (Drop  that  word,  brethren,  so  far  as  a 
great  part  of  the  people  are  concerned.)  They  listen  very  attentively 
to  the  lessons  and  to  the  addresses,  and  in  that  way  it  has  been  dis- 
covered that  the  Sunday  scliool  becomes  a  powerful  evangelising 
agency.  I  was  intensely  interested  when  it  was  said  that  we  were 
working  for  India  and  Japan  and  must  do  something  for  China. 
"When  you  come  to  hear  the  report  from  India  you  will  see  something 
of  our  wants.  You  must  open  your  hearts.  You  must  help  us,  and 
we  will  satisfy  your  minds  tliat  we  need  help. 

And  now,  as  I  take  my  seat,  1  wish  to  say  that  as  God  has  blessed 
us  hitherto,  we  are  working  not  only  in  hojjo  but  in  confidence.  I 
have  addressed  Sunday  schools  in  many  places,  sometimes  iu  marble 


Sunday  Scliool  Convention.  45 

temples,  sometimes  under  a  village  tree,  but  I  have  not  yet  addressed 
a  Sunday  school  where  I  did  not  perceive  that  the  children  listened 
intently  and  with  interest  and  with  enthusiasm.  There  is  no  religious 
pessimism  in  the  ranks  of  Sunday  school  children,  any  way.  Then,  in 
the  next  place,  I  am  addressing  a  class  of  people  who,  for  want  of  a 
different  name,  we  popularly  call  Sunday  school  people,  men  and 
women,  many  of  whom  have  long  since  ceased  to  be  children,  except 
in  a  gospel  sense,  who  are  interested  in  Sunday  schools,  who  believe 
in  them  and  who  work  in  them  and  pray  for  them;  for  we  see  their 
fruits  and  we  remember  these  Sunday  schools  have  moved  the  peoples 
by  millions.  Take  them  as  a  class  they  are  not  pessimists;  there  is  a 
hopeful  belief  in  the  Christian  Churcli  universal  to-day.  You  will 
sympathise  with  me  when  I  tell  you  I  have  the  utmost  confidence  in 
a  great  future  for  Sunday  school  work  in  Southern  Malayia  and  the 
islands  below.  My  own  belief  is  that  many  people  who  are  here  will 
see  the  day  when  these  islands  will  report  their  Sunday  school  children 
by  the  million.  I  think  I  shall  live  to  see  it  myself.  May  God  bless 
you,  and  bless  this  cause  in  whicli  you  are  enlisted,  and  hasten  the 
day  when  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  He  may  reign  for  ever! 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  A.  B.  McCrillis,  Rhode  Island,  the 
American  delegates  rose  in  their  places  whilst  the  Eev.  Dr.  Spalding 
prayed  that  America  might  be  made  equal  to  and  discharge  worthily 
her  new  responsibilities  created  by  the  American  Spanish  war. 

South  Africa. 

The  Chairman  :  The  American  delegates  only  rose  while  the  i^rayer 
was  being  offered,  but  I  am  sure  that  prayer  rose  from  every  heart  in 
this  room.     We  are  with  our  American  friends  in  that. 

Now,  last  but  not  least,  we  shall  hear  a  voice  from  the  city  of 
diamonds.  We  have  to  hear  from  Mr.  Richards,  of  Kimberley,  South 
Africa,  a  few  words  of  response  to  the  welcome. 

Eev.  W.  H.  Richards  {Kimherley). 

Mr.  Chairman,  dear  friends,  and  fellow-workers, — On  behalf  of  the 
Sunday  school  teachers  of  South  Africa,  I  thank  you  heartily  for  the 
greetings  given  by  you  to  us  yesterday  and  tLis  morning.  And  I  feel 
quite  sure,  when  I  return  to  my  distant  home  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
and  give  my  fellow  Sunday  school  workers  there  my  present  impressions 
of  these  great  meetings,  that  it  will  greatly  inspire  and  encourage 
them,  and  send  them  on  their  great  work  with  intensified  earnestness 
in  their  endeavour  to  teach  the  children  the  knowledge  of  Christ. 

We  have  been  reminded  this  morning  that  America  is  ahead  of 
England,  but  that  England  is  trying  to  catch  America  up.  I  am 
afraid  I  must  admit  that  South  Africa  is  behind  England,  but  I  can 
assure  you  we  are  trying  to  catch  you  up,  and  we  mean,  if  possible, 


46  World's  Third 

to  got  into  lino  witli  you  in  regard  to  Sunday  school  work.  Our 
schools  arc  not  largo ;  wo  could  not  point  in  South  Africa  to  any- 
tliing  like  what  I  saw  last  week  in  a  SoniersotBhiro  village.  Tlicrc 
I  saw  a  splendidly  equipped  Sunday  school,  and  the  pupils  of  the 
school  comprised  one-third  of  the  whole  population  of  the  village. 
The  ages  ranged  from  about  three  years  old  to  ahout  seventy.  They 
had  Sunday  scliool  scholars  there  of  all  ages.  "We  cannot  point  to 
anything  like  that  in  South  Africa,  I  am  sorry  to  say.  We  cannot 
get  our  adults  to  remain  in  the  Sunday  schools,  except  a  few  of 
them  perhaps  in  the  Bible  classes.  And  then  our  juvenile  popuUition 
is  conii)aratively  small.  But  then,  sir,  we  are  a  growing  country,  and 
that,  with  many  other  things,  no  doubt  will  improve. 

"We  are  trying  to  improve  our  metliods  of  teaching.  Eeference  has 
been  made  tliis  morning  to  the  necessity  of  giving  more  facilities  for 
training  Sunday  school  teachers.  AVe  are  recognising  that,  and 
considering  how  we  can  help  the  Sunday-school  teachers  in  tliid 
matter.  We  recognise  the  supreme  importance  of  training,  if  (lie 
teachers  are  in  earnest  and  love  the  children ;  but  wo  hold  that  the 
more  earnest  the  Sunday-school  teacher  is,  the  more  he  will  welcome 
anything  tl»at  may  enable  him  to  make  that  work  more  efhcient;  and 
we  believe  tiiat  training,  not  only  in  Bible  knowledge,  which  is,  of 
course,  supremely  important,  but  also  systematic  training  in  the  art 
of  imparting  that  knowledge,  or  the  art  of  teaching,  is  scarcely  less 
important.  We  believe  that  this  would  greatly  help  our  Sunday 
school  teachers  to  do  a  more  efficient  work  than  at  present.  And 
we  are  considering  whether  we  can  introduce  some  system  of  giving 
to  our  teachers  this  training  which  they  and  we  feel  they  need. 

I  suppose  we  sliould  all  agree  that  Sunday  school  work  was  never 
more  important,  never  more  needed  than  at  the  present  time,  and 
I  think  T  may  say  with  truth  that  there  can  be  no  place  in  the 
world  where  Sunday  school  work  is  needed  more  than  it  is  in  Soutli 
Africa,  and  that  for  two  or  three  reasons  which  I  can  give  you 
briefly.  In  the  first  place,  speaking  generally,  we  have  not  there,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  the  same  home  influence  and  the  same  Christian  homo 
religion  which  you  have  here.  It  is  true  I  met  in  the  pages  of  one 
well-known  novelist  of  to-day  recently  this  sentence,  that  England  is 
the  most  unfamily  country  in  Europe.  Alas  for  England  if  this  be  true, 
but  I  for  one  do  not  believe  it.  England  must  be  altered  very  much 
in  seven  years  if  that  statement  is  true.  But  out  there  we  do  feel 
a  great  deal  the  want  of  home  influence  and  religion.  Whether  it 
is  the  beautiful  climate,  or  the  outdoor  life,  or  the  unsettled  character 
of  population,  I  do  not  know,  but  we  feel  there  is  little  home  influence 
and  consequently  home  religious  influence.  Then  the  education  in  our 
public  schools  is  entirely  secular.  There  is  not  even  a  prayer  oflered 
in  connection  with  the  day-school.  There  is  no  reading  even  of  the 
Bible,  and  I  know  tliat  many  good  and  earnest  people  think  it  is  better 
that  that  slioidd  be  so,  and  I  am  not  going  to  enter  upon  that  question. 
But  I  say  that  if  there  is  very  little  religious  influence  in  the  home,  and 


Sunday  School  Convention.  47 

no  Bible  teaching  in  the  school,  it  throws  an  immense  resjionsibility  on 
the  Church  of  Christ.  And  wo  feel  that  the  only  way  in  which  wc  can 
meet  the  responsibility  is  to  take  up  the  work  of  the  Sunday  school, 
and  to  try  and  carry  it  on  not  only  more  earnestly,  but  witli  a  greater 
degree  of  consecrated  enterprise  and  of  common  sense,  and  that  is  just 
what  we  are  trying  to  do. 

And,  brothers,  I  appeal  to  you  to-day  and  ask  you  to  give  us  your 
sympathy  and  your  prayers  in  this  work.  We  feel  grateful  to  the 
Sunday  school  teachers  of  England — because  wo  are  feeling  to-day  in 
South  Africa  the  influence  of  their  work  here.  We  feel  the  influence 
and  a  great  many  other  things  from  England  wc  do  not  want  to  feel, 
but  I  thank  God  because  we  feel  the  influence  of  the  worlc  of  the 
Sunday  scliool  teachers,  and  tliat  we  do  want  to  feel;  and  it  will 
encourage  us  to  feel  more  than  we  realised  before  that  we  are  part  of 
a  great  world-wide  organisation  and  work,  and  that  we  are  one  with 
you  in  our  prayers  and  in  our  endeavours,  by  means  of  Sunday  school 
work,  to  win  the  whole  world  fur  God. 

Eeport  of  Nominations  Committee. 

Professor  Hamill,  Secretary  of  the  Nominations  Committee,  moved 
the  adoption  of  the  Eeport  of  the  Committee,  which  recommended 
that  the  following  appointments  should  be  made  : — 

President  of  the  Convention,  Mr.  E.  Towers  (London). 
Vice-Presidents : 

England — The  Marquis  of  Northampton,  London ;  F.  F.  Belsey, 
London. 

Scotland — Sir  John  Cuthbertson. 

Canada — Hon.  S.  H.  Blake,  Ontario. 

United  States — W.  N.  Hartshorn,  Massachusetts  ;  J.  J.  Bell,  Minne- 
sota ;  N.  B.  Broughton,  North  Carolina. 

Mexico — Eev.  H.  W.  Brown,  City  of  Mexico. 

Germany — Count  A.  Von  Bernstorft'. 

Sweden — Wilhelm  Carlson,  Stockholm. 

India — Bishop  J.  M.  Thoburn. 

Australasia — G.  M.  Hitchcock,  Geelong,  Victoria. 

Chief  Secretary — W.  J.  Semelroth,  United  States. 

Eecording  Secretaries — E.  Eobertsou,  Canada  ;  E.  Norris,  England  ; 
A.  Crawford,  Scotland. 

Statistical  Secretaries — J.  B.  Greene,  United  States;  James  Tillett, 
England. 

Executive  Committee. 

Chairman — Edward  Towers,  Loudon. 

England — Charles  Waters,  London  ;  James  Tillett,  London  ;  Kev. 
Kobert  CuUey,  London  ;  Eev.  Danzy  Sheen,  Leeds. 

United   States — B.   F.   Jacobs,  Illinois ;   Hon.   John   Wanamaker, 


48  World's  Third 

Pennsylvania;    A.    B.    McCrillis,    Rhode    iBland;    E.    K.   Warren, 
Michigan. 

Canada — S.  P.  Leet,  Quebec. 

Japan — T.  C.  Ikehara,  Tokio. 

Sweden — Augustus  Palm,  Stockhfilm. 

Australasia — Archibald  Jackson,  IMelbournc. 

Choice  of  members  from  Germany,  Italy,  France,  and  South  Africa, 
was  remitted  to  the  new  Executive  Committee. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  and  was  agreed  to  unanimously. 

The  Chairman  :  And  now,  Mr.  Towers,  Mr.  President  elect,  may  I, 
on  behalf  of  this  Convention,  assure  you  of  tlie  joy  with  which  we  seo 
you  assume  duties  of  great  importance,  which  wo  know  in  your  hands 
■will  be  most  ably  discharged  ? 

Mr.  Towers  :  Dear  friends,  I  will  not  keep  you  now.  My  heart  is 
too  full  to  speak,  and  I  can  scarcely  yet  say  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
on  this  question,  but  I  thank  you  very  sincerely  fuv  tlie  honour  you 
wish  t(j  confer  upon  me. 

The  hymn,  "We  love  Thco,  Lord,  yet  nfit  alone,"  having  been  sung, 

The  llev.  A.  Knaggs  pronouuced  the  Benediction,  and  the  session 
ended. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  4& 


FIKST  DAY.— SECOND  SESSION. 

Tuesday  Afternoon,  July  12tu. 

THE  AVOKK  EEPORTED. 

The  second  session  was  held  at  the  City  Temple  on  Tuesday  after- 
noon, the  business  portion  of  the  meeting  being  i^receded  by  a  service 
of  song.  The  President  of  the  Convention  (Mr.  E.  Towers)  took  the 
chair.  After  the  singing  of  the  hymn :  "  Stand  up,  stand  up  for 
Jesus,"  the  Rev.  H.  B.  Macartney,  B.A.,  oiiered  prayer. 

The  President:  The  Eev.  Dr.  Potts,  of  Canada,  will  move  a 
resolution. 

The  Kev.  John  Potts:  To  many  of  us  in  this  Convention  from 
the  United  States,  Canada,  and  British  North  America,  it  is  a 
very  sad  thing  that  we  meet^without  the  person  of  our  ex-president, 
Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  of  Chicago,  and  I  rise  to  move  the  following  reso- 
lution, which  will  be  seconded  by  the  "  Honourable "  F.  F.  Belsey, 
of  England; — 

"That  a  message  be  cabled  to  our  absent  ex-president,  Mr.  B. 
F.  Jacobs — 'Much  missed.  Convention  gratefully  remembers  past 
splendid  service.' " 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey:  On  behalf  of  the  English  and  European 
delegates,  I  second  the  motion.  I  know  our  dear  friend  and  brother, 
Mr.  Jacobs,  is  regretting  his  absence  as  much  as  we  are.  If  these 
words  be  cabled  to  him,  they  may  do  something  to  console  him, 
and  also  relieve  us  somewhat  of  the  feeling  of  disapijointment  at 
his  absence. 

I  have  been  referred  to  as  the  "  Honourable,"  but  I  must  disclaim 
any  right  to  that  title.  When  addressed  similarly  by  my  American 
friends,  I  always  say,  '•  Well,  I  should  like  to  know  where  the  family 
estates  are ! "  (laughter.).  As  a  plain  layman,  therefore,  I  beg  to  second 
that  resolution. 

The  motion  was  then  put  to  the  meeting,  and  carried  with  accla- 
mation. 

The  Eev.  Aquila  Lucas  (New  Brunswick,  Canada)  then  read  the 
names  of  the  Executive  Committee  which  were  appointed  at  the 
morning  session. 

The  PRESipEjrr  mov^d  that  this  be  adopted,  and  it  was  agreed  to. 


60 


World's  Third 


The  members  for  Germany,  Italy,  France,  and  South  Africa  would 
bo  elected  on  the  Committei;  in  duo  time.  The  members  already 
elected  would  act  as  corresponding  secretaries  of  their  respective 
portions  of  the  world-wide  field. 


COMMITTEE  ON  RESOLUTIONS. 

The  Pkesident  :  It  is  desirable  that  any  matter  which  may  arise  of 
importance  should  not  be  considered  iu  the  full  Convention,  but  that 
it  should  be  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Resolutions,  for  them  to  bring 
the  matter  forward,  and  the  Committee  has  buen  chosen  as  repre- 
sentative as  possible,  so  as  to  command  the  respect  of  the  entire 
Convention.     The  names  are  as  follows  : — 


For  U.  !S.  A. 


For  England,  Ireland, 
and  Wales 


For  Scotland    . 
For  Canada 

For  Australasia 
For  Germany  . 
For  Sweden 
For  Iiidia    . 
For  Japan  . 
For  Mexico 


Mr.  Israel  P.  Black. 
Mr.  BiiiSTOw. 
Mr.  N.  B.  BiiOUGiiTON. 
Dr.  M.  C.  Hazard. 
Mr.  Pepper. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey. 

Mr.  LiDDIARD. 

Eev.  Robert  Culley. 
Rev.  Danzy  Sheen. 
Mr.  E.  NoREis. 

Mr.  PUEVER. 

Mr.  Parlake. 

Hon.  S.  H.  Blake. 
Rev.  Dr.  Potts. 

Mr.  Stocks. 

Prof.  Fetzer. 

Pastor  Tkuve. 

Rev.  A.  Jewson. 

Mr.  T.  C.  Ikeiiara. 

Rev.  H.  W.  Brown. 


TuE  President:  I  will  now  call  upon  Mr.  J.  T.  Holmes  to  give 
his  paper  on  The  Progress  of  Sunday  School  Work  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe. 


Sunday  School  Convention, 


51 


THE  CONTINENT  OF  EUROPE. 

Mr.  J.  T.  Holmes  (Hon.  Sec.  Sunday  School  Union  Continental 
Mission) :  It  is  not  my  intention  to  give  in  the  few  minutes  allotted 
to  me  a  history  of  Sunday  school  woi  k  that  has  been  well  done  by  others 
in  various  sections,  and  thererefore  without  introduction  I  address 
myself  at  once  to  the  main  topic  I  desire  to  bring  before  you,  viz  : 


The  Extension  of  the  Movement. 

Beginnings  are  important,  but  we  are  not  now  at  the  start,  we  have 
come  along  the  road  of  this  labour  of  love  for  some  thirty  years,  and 
rejoice  that  to-day  we  see  it  steadily  progressing,  and  with  God's 
blessing  not  only  increasing  numerically,  but  in  usefulness,  and 
attended  by  a  spiritual  prosperity. 

Unfortunately  all  our  Continental  friends  have  not  responded  as 
promptly  with  regard  to  statistics  as  we  could  have  wished,  and  our 
figures  are  by  no  means  complete  for  a  comparison  with  those  gathered 
in  1893,  but  such  as  we  have  show  a  steady  increase. 

I  quote  a  few  examples  omitting  odd  figures 


1893. 

1898. 

Denmark  (scholars  in)  . 
Holland              „ 
Italy                   „ 
Portugal             „ 
Spain                   ,, 
Sweden               „ 

55,000 

11,300 

11,000 

1,066 

3,200 

242,000 

71,000 

11,800 

15,700 

1,419 

4,200 

252,000 

and  I  believe  that  when  the  totals  come  to  be  made  up  the  increase 
will  be  found  a  substantial  one. 

It,  is  also  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  record  that  the  teachers  and 
workers  are  appreciating  Sunday  school  unions.  I  do  not  mean  ours, 
but  their  own  unions, — not  perhaps  on  our  lines,  we  do  not  expect 
that, — but  they  are  realising  that  union  is  strength. 

Sweden  has  within  the  last  few  years  consolidated  her  scattered 
forces  and  formed  one  union  for  the  whole  country. 

Norway  works  from  two  centres,  but  it  is  hoped  that  at  an  early 
date  these  will  become  one. 

The  Italian  committee  meeting  in  Kome  is  working  quietly  and 
prosperously,  uniting  all  sections  of  the  Church  in  a  splendid  way  of 
its  own. 

I  am  glad  also  to  know  from  the  reports  sent  me  that  Sunday 
school  literature  both  for  teachers  and  scholars  is  increasing  in  circu- 
lation, and  certainly  some  of  the  specimen  magazines  sent  me  do 
great  credit  to  those  who  prepare  them.  So  far  I  rejoice  in  these  facts. 

e  2 


52  World's  Third 

I  should  like  also  to  bear  testimony  to  the  very  efficient  and  grateful 
help  given  to  Sunday  sckools  by  members  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  Quite  recently  has  it  been  reported  to  us  that 
in  Bohemia  they  supply  the  best  teachers,  and  I  was  informed  when 
in  Brussels  that  Simday  school  work  in  some  cases  would  scarcely  be 
possible  but  for  such  aid. 

In  England  wo  know  it  is  difficult  to  find  teachers,  but  it  must  bo 
much  more  so  in  countries  wheie  the  aims  of  the  Sunday  school  are 
less  perfectly  understood,  and  where  the  confirmation  age  severs  the 
connection  of  tho  senior  scholars — the  future  teachers — from  the 
schools,  but  we  are  hopeful  that  this  will  be  overcome  as  intelligence 
advances. 

But  much  as  there  may  be  to  cheer  us  both  in  the  excellent  reports 
we  receive  from  our  missionaries  and  from  the  indei^endent  testimony 
of  friends,  we  ought  not  to  neglect  reviewing  our  work  from  time  to 
time.  The  law  of  progress  is  the  law  of  life,  and  the  Continental 
mission  work  of  the  Sunday  school  has  not  yet  reached  that  stage 
when  the  motto  can  be  adoi)ted  of  "  Rest  and  be  thankful." 

I  am  glad,  therefore,  at  this  Convention  to  speak  in  the  presence 
of  not  only  my  own  countrymen,  but  of  many  peoples,  and  say  that 
the  problem  of  evangelising  Europe  is  the  world's  great  problem 
to-day.  I  say  let  it  begin  with  the  children.  What  a  better  world  this 
would  be  if  the  heart  of  the  great  European  nations  were  moved 
and  quickened  by  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  so  I  appeal  to  my 
American  brethren,  and  say  let  us  join  hands  more  closely  than  ever 
before  in  this  holy  crusade  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  through  the 
Sunday  school. 

This  is  not  a  task  set  England  alone,  it  concerns  America  as  well — 
does  not  America  realise  just  now  the  nearness  of  Europe  in  Cuba — 
does  it  not  realise  the  nearness  when  the  hundreds  of  thousands  come 
to  her  shores  from  European  lands  seeking  work  and  bread  ? 

The  cost  of  an  ironclad  annually  would  be  money  well  and  econo- 
mically spent  in  evangelistic  work  among  the  children. 

The  work  is  truly  international,  and  while  both  England  and 
America  have  ever  been  to  the  forefront  in  carrying  on  Sunday  school 
work,  each  in  their  own  country — each  for  their  own  good — it  would 
be  selfish  and  cowardly  now  to  say  that  having  given  our  brtthien  on 
the  Continent  a  hint  or  idea,  we  must  leave  them  to  carry  it  out.  That 
which  has  been  done  is  but  the  starting-point  fur  fresh  eflbrts  and 
more  organized  labour,  but  it  needs  a  very  considerable  increase 
of  enthusiasm  and  support  if  it  is  to  go  forward. 

All  honour  to  the  many  societies  who  have  done  tlieir  little  in 
carrying  light  to  the  dark  places  of  Europe,  but  tho  Church  of  Christ 
has  never  yet  seriously  set  to  work  to  carry  the  message  of  the  Gospel 
to  them. 

I  have  no  formulated  schcnTC  to  suggest  to  you  as  to  how  in- 
creased sympathy  e:in  be  excited  for  Europe — it  is  enough  for  me  to 
know  that  my  near  neighbours  want  broad,  to  move  rae  with  compast 


Sunday  School  Convention.  53 

sion  towards  them.  But  I  will  venture  to  point  out  one  method  by 
which  I  firmly  believe  a  great  evangelistic  wave  might  carry  this 
Sunday  school  work  forward,  and  while  I  intend  no  disrespect  to  any 
churches,  I  say  it  seems  hopeless  in  many  cases  to  wait  for  churches 
establishing  Sunday  schools ;  rather  does  it  happen  that  churches 
grow  out  of  Sunday  schools. 

As  an  illustration  of  what  I  mean,  I  would  point  to  that  grand  work 
in  Paris  known  as  the  McAll  Mission. 

At  Dortmund,  Germany,  I  have  just  heard  of  a  mission  school 
carried  on  with  an  attendance  of  180  children — not  attached  to  any 
church. 

Pastor  Lecoat  in  Brittany  is  doing  a  similar  mission  work  with 
Sunday  schools  supplying  his  services. 

Seuor  Albricias  at  Alicante  in  Spain  is  a  schoolmaster  doing  his 
little  with  his  day  pupils,  and  such  others  as  he  can  gather  in. 

There  are  many  similar  mission  agencies  I  know  up  and  down  the 
Continent,  but  they  need  multiplying  very  largely  indeed. 

These  mission  schools  are  less  liable  to  persecution  than  an 
organized  Church.  I  do  not  say  they  will  escape;  but  the  school  will 
present  a  smaller  target  for  her  shafts,  and  the  forbiddJDg  and 
threateuings  of  priests,  State  clergy  and  schoolmasters  will  be  un- 
heeded if  the  children  can  be  gathered  into  comfortable  halls  or  rooms 
and  made  happy.  All  this  will  cost  much  money  and  labour.  The 
Sunday  School  Union  has  never  yet  attempted  work  of  this  kind.  We 
have  never  sent  contributions  for  the  support  of  any  one  Sunday 
school ;  but  I  incline  to  the  opinion  that  it  is  worth  doing  if  the  work 
cannot  be  extended  by  other  means. 

Our  own  grand  Eagged  School  Union  is  another  example  of  what  I 
mean — the  work  was  not  the  outcome  of  the  churches  as  such — but  it 
did  and  does  still  supply  a  great  want.  And  Sunday  schools  can,  I 
believe,  be  multiplied,  and  Europe  blessed  if  those  who  have  the 
means  will  supply  them. 

The  work  must  be  aggressive,  not  in  a  i^olemical  sense.  Happily 
children  need  not  be  asked  to  listen  to  things  doubtful  when  there 
are  so  many  certainties ;  but  the  opportunities  for  hearing  must  be 
multiplied  in  the  dark  corners  of  the  great  cities,  it  must  go  forward. 

The  Continental  Committee  recently  addressed  a  number  of  ques- 
tions to  the  secretaries  of  Continental  Unions,  and  among  them  were 
these — 

(1.)  Do  you  consider  the  work  of  a  missionary  agent  the  best 
method  of  extending  Sunday  school  work  ?  and 

(2.)  Can  you  make  any  suggestion  by  which  the  movement  could 
be  more  efficiently  helped,  either  in  place  of  or  in  addition  to  the 
present  plan  ? 

To  the  first  of  these  two  questions  the  reply  of  our  Union  is  typical 
of  others,  and  I  will  give  it  in  the  words  sent  me. 

"  I  cannot  but  give  an  affirmative  reply  to  this  question.  Our  mis* 
Bionary  is  not  only  the  living  bond  between  our  Sunday  schools,  but 


54  World's  Tldrd 

by  his  continual  journeys  through  our  country,  by  his  many  years  of 
experience,  he  becomes  acquainted  with  numerous  people,  and  circum- 
stances of  which  he  profits  for  the  extension  of  Sunday  school  work. 
Ho  is  constantly  in  places  y/here  there  are  uo  schools,  and  where 
teachers  are  not  to  be  found  lie  is  seeking  elsewhere  in  the  neighbour- 
hood to  obtain  them,  and  is  often  pleading  the  interests  of  those  ill- 
favoured  places  and  doing  his  utmost  to  obtain  volunteers,  and  has 
already  been  able  to  start  a  number  of  Sunday  schools." 

That  ifl  a  good  answer,  and  shows  good  work  as  far  as  it  goes,  but 
look  at  the  answer  to  the  second  question. 

••  It  is  the  want  of  money  which  prevents  our  doing  more  than  is 
already  done.  The  workers  in  the  Sunday  school  arc  not  to  be  found 
among  the  rich  and  noble  of  our  country.  Repeatedly  demands  for 
support  are  coming  to  us,  demands  for  assistance  in  hire  of  schools, 
travelling  expenses  for  teachers,  who  are  willing  to  give  their  time 
and  strength,  but  tlieylack  the  means  to  make  the  necessary  journeys. 
Unhappily  our  Union  is  not  able  to  provide  means.  There  is  more 
work  than  money.     Work  enough  for  the  missionaries." 

Part  of  a  reply  from  another  union  to  the  same  question  says — 

"  Constant  applications  come  for  an  increase  in  the  supply  of  lesson 
leaflets,  Bible  pictures,  reward  tickets,  maps,  and  the  like,  which,  at 
present,  we  are  altogether  unable  to  satisfy." 

Thus  it  will  be  at  once  seen  that  we  have  two  tasks  before  us,  not 
only  to  maintain  the  work  which  has  been  commenced,  to  foster  and 
encourage  it  in  every  possible  way,  remembering  that  most  of  the 
Protestant  Churches  are  small  in  numbers  and  not  often  very  flourish- 
ing in  means,  but  where,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  strong  desire  that 
it  shall  go  forward  and  be  a  greater  blessing  to  the  young  of  every 
land  is  strongly  felt.  In  my  opinion,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  to  take  up  tliis  mission  work  as  much  as  any  other  mission  work, 
and  to  support  it  witli  some  fair  share  of  its  contributions  for  mission 
purposes. 

Both  England  and  America  have  nearly  100  years  start  in  front  of 
the  Protestant  Cliurches  in  Europe  with  the  Sunday  school  question, 
and  if  it  is  the  duty  of  the  strong  to  help  the  weak,  it  is  our  duty  to 
try  and  bring  about  in  otlier  lands  the  like  blessed  results  which  have 
attended  the  work  in  tliese  two  countries.  The  Saviour's  commission 
to  feed  His  lambs,  as  I  read  it,  was  not  in  any  way  limited  to  those  in 
the  country  where  we  happen  to  live,  rather  I  say,  in  the  words  of 
the  bairns'  hymn : 

"I  long  for  the  joy  of  that  glorious  time, 
The  sweetest  and  brightest  and  best, 
When  the  dear  little  children  of  every  clinic 
Shall  crowd  to  His  arms  and  be  blest." 


Sunday   School  Convention.  65 

THE  EEPORT  OF  THE  FOREIGN  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 
ASSOCIATION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 
AMERICA. 

TheEev.  H.  C.  Woodruff  (of  the  Foreign  Association  of  the  United 
States)  then  read  the  following  paper : — 

When  our  Lord  had  completed  the  work  of  feeding  the  five  thousand 
Ho  commanded  His  disciples  to  gather  up  the  fragments.  When  the 
gathering  was  finished  it  was  found  that  there  were  twelve  baskets 
full.  The  fragments  were  the  same  in  kind  as  the  original  loaves  and 
fishes  with  whicli  the  miracle  was  begun,  and  they  were  vastly  more 
in  amount. 

The  experience  conveys  a  hint  of  the  existence  of  fragments  of 
Christian  spiritual  life ;  the  same  in  kind  as  tliat  which  is  organised 
in  great  centres,  and  more  perhaps  in  the  aggregate  amount  than  the 
more  prominent  bodies.     Indeed,  the  truth  which  is  thus  illustrated  is 
deeper  than  the  illustration.     For  this  is  not  a  question  of  loaves  but 
of  life — of  spiritual  life.   Each  fragment  is  a  spiritual  germ  possessing 
all  the  vital  possibility  of  the  central  organism,  and  having  the  power 
of  assimilation,  of  growth,  and  of  reproduction.      But,  for  develop- 
ment and  fruit  bearing,  a  germ  needs  favourable  environment,  and 
many   of  these  fragments   are  in  an  environment  as  unfriendly  to 
fruitful  development  as  were  the  grains  of  wheat  which  were  wrapped 
in  the  cerements  of  an  Egyptian  mummy.     The  true  life  of  faith  in 
Christ  is  present ;  but  it  is  devoid  of  experience  or  example  which 
should  incite  or  direct   to  Christian  work.     It  is  surrounded  by  in- 
difference or  active  hostility  which  would  hinder  or  even  deter  its 
inauguration.     It  is  often  destitute  of  efficient  equijiment  for  the  per- 
formance of  the  most  primary  tasks.   Whatever  may  be  the  deficiencies 
of  Christian  life  in  America,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  certain 
lines  of  lay  co-operation  in  aggressive  activity  it  is  exceptionally  well 
developed.      This  is  par  excellence  the  contribution  which  we  can 
make  to  that  aggregate  of  Christian  life  which  is  the  common  heritage 
of  the  Church  and  of  right  belongs  alike  to  all ;  and  we  can  hardly 
confer  a  better  gift  on  the  Church  in  our  day  and  generation  than  to 
provide  and  diffuse  an  environment  which  shall  be  favourable  to  the 
development  of  these  fragments  and  germs  of  spiritual  life  which  are 
so  widely  disseminated,  and  either  lie  dormant  or  are   germinating 
under  circumstances  of  immense  difficulty.   For  without  this  fostering 
care,  or  without  the  results  which  it  is  sought  to  attain  by  it,  the 
Christian  life  of  the  individual  or  of  the  Church  will  be  devoid  of  that 
complete  happiness,  usefulness,  peace,  power,  and  fruitfulness  which 
it  is  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  Master  it  should  attain.     Any  one 
who  can  engage  and  direct  an  inert  Christian  in  intelligent,   pro- 
gressive, successful  work  for  the  Master  for  which  he  is  fitted,  or  can 
become  so,  has  conferred  a  blessing  on  that  worker  and  imparted  a 
new  force  to  the  agencies  of  the  Kingdom.     He  has  increased  the 


56  World's  TJiird 

glory  of  tlio  Master  and  made  possible  a  progress  'wliicli  is  otherwiao 
unattainable.  Life  without  exercise  is  as  little  apt  to  bo  wholesome 
as  spiritual  life  without  work.  Both  the  helper  and  the  helped  are 
assisted  by  that  which  makes  work  possible.  All  are  alike  blessed  by 
the  reflex  influence  of  the  work  performed — the  worker  hardly  less 
than  the  individual  for  whom  it  was  wrought. 

If  now  we  may  leave  the  figurative  and  come  to  the  literal,  it  was 
the  conviction  that  there  were  many  Christians  who  were  unengaged 
in  Christian  work,  that  they  were  meant  to  be  at  work,  that  they 
would  be  benefited  by  work,  and  that  the  work  would  not  be  done 
unless  they  took  their  share  in  it ;  that  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
Foreign  Sunday  School  Association.  It  is  to  reach  even  germs  of  life 
and  provide  an  environment  which  will  make  their  work  tolerable, 
possible,  and  off'ective,  which  is  its  aim. 

I  should  Ije  very  sorry  if  the  introduction  tlius  far  should  create  any 
impression  that  our  work  is,  or  is  intended  to  be,  fragmentary  in  its 
nature.  It  has,  both  in  purpose  and  practice,  been  carried  on  very 
largely  with  individual  schools  and  workers.  If  on  that  account  it 
seems  to  any  one  fragmentary,  the  foregoing  considerations  may  pre- 
vent tliat  feature  from  becoming  a  stumbling  block.  It  is  from  the 
life  thus  fostered  that  we  hope  the  organisation  may  grow,  which  hope 
has  been  verified.  And  work  with  individual  schools  may  surely 
claim  a  sanction  from  a  commission  which  bids  its  messengers  carry 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 

Please,  however,  disabuse  your  minds  of  any  impression  that  our 
work  is  in  nature  or  practice  fragmentary  and  unorganised. 

It  would  be  too  long  a  tale  to  enumerate  tho  different  eflbrts  which 
have  been  made  in  diff'erent  countries.  I  must  content  myself  with  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  our  organisation  and  its  metliods.  Its  working 
agency  is  a  body  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  are  banded  together  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  and  aiding  Sunday  schools  in  foreign 
countries.  Our  method,  to  describe  it  briefly,  is  to  obtain  the  address 
of  any  actual  or  potential  Sunday  school  worker  and  engage  with  him 
(it  is  quite  likely  to  be  her)  in  correspondence.  A  circular,  descriptive 
of  a  simple  but  efiicient  method  of  Sunday  school  organisation  and 
conduct,  is  sent,  and  with  it  a  letter  full  of  warm  sympathetic  Christian 
enquiry  as  to  tlie  possibilities  and  difficulties  of  his  environment.  A 
correspondence  is  thus  inaugurated  which  enables  us  to  communicate 
the  results  of  exiicrience  in  our  more  approved  methods,  and  to  assist  a 
worker  by  suggestions,  encouragement,  and  needed  aid  in  making  his 
work  more  efficient.  Deep  and  lasting  personal  friendship  has  been 
the  result  of  this  interchange  of  letters,  prolonged  often  through 
many  years. 

Our  work  is  done  chiefly  by  correspondence,  and,  as  we  are  a 
voluntary  society,  no  one  of  tlie  officers  or  members  receiving  any 
salary,  the  economy  of  our  methods  and  their  capability  of  indefinite 
expansion  without  material  increase  of  administrative  expenses  are  at 
once  manifest.    Our  postage  bill  is  not  unnaturally  very  large.    So 


Sunday  School  Convention,  57 

much  for  tho  discovery  of  the  germ,  now  as  to  the  provision  of  an 
environment. 

The  first  element  is  tho  sympathy  and  fellowship  conveyed  in  the 
correspondence  itself.  The  letters  we  receive  express  surprise  and 
delight  at  tho  fact  that  Christian  friends  so  far  away  should  know  of 
and  care  for  the  workers  and  their  work.  Earnest  requests  that  we 
should  remember  them  and  their  charges  at  the  throne  of  the 
Heavenly  Father  occupy  a  prominent  place  among  expressions  of 
grateful  appreciation  of  our  work  in  tlie  letters  we  receive  from  our 
corresiwndents. 

One  almost  universal  feature  of  the  dif3Sculties  which  confront 
Sunday  school  work  in  the  countries  under  consideration  is  the  dearth, 
amounting  in  many  instances  to  almost  utter  lack,  of  suitable  religious 
reading  matter  for  children.  We  are  not  a  publishing  society  ;  but 
this  need  was  so  serious  that  we  felt  compelled  to  attempt  a  remedy. 
The  want  has  been  felt  from  the  outset,  and,  though  in  some  countries 
alleviated,  it  still  confronts  us.  To  meet  it  we  have  published  or 
subsidised  or  supplied  gratuitous  subscriptions  to  illustrated  Sunday 
scliool  papers  for  children  in  six  languages.  In  one  country  the 
paper  has  passed  into  the  stage  of  self-support,  and  has  become,  I 
believe,  a  source  of  revenue  for  Sunday  school  extension.  Elsewhere 
the  papers  depend  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  upon  us  for  support. 
The  papers  thus  described  are  abundantly  recognised  in  our  letters  as 
useful  in  the  highest  degree.  They  attract  children  to  the  school, 
and  foster  regular  and  prompt  attendance.  When  carried  to  iheir 
homes  they  are  read  by  parents  and  neighbours,  who  are  often 
unreached  or  inaccessible  by  other  agencies. 

We  have  felt  compelled,  alas,  during  the  past  years  of  commercial 
depression  to  reduce  the  number  of  papers  with  which  we  have  been 
assisting  our  correspondents,  and  piteous  are  the  letters  we  receive 
describing  the  eflect  of  this  retrenchment  upon  their  work.  With 
sorrowful  hearts  do  the  children  receive  the  tidings  that  there  are  no 
papers  for  them.  Earnest  are  the  desires  expressed  that  at  the 
earliest  moment  we  may  restore  the  work  to  the  previous  scale,  and 
pathetic  are  the  contributions  which  some  send  out  of  their  poverty  to 
secure  the  paper  and  aid  us  in  our  work. 

By  the  kind  and  interested  helpfulness  of  a  lady  in  Brooklyn,  we 
have  also  been  enabled  during  the  past  thirty  years  to  publish  transla- 
tions of  standard  library  books  in  numerous  languages.  These  books 
are  intended  to  aid  in  furnishing  libraries  in  difi'erent  countries 
touched  by  our  correspondence ;  and  a  glance  at  the  history  of  their 
publication  will  supply  some  idea  both  of  the  extent  and  the  progress 
of  our  work.  Tlieir  usefulness  has  been  abundantly  recognised,  their 
reading  having  been  repeatedly  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of 
souls,  and  in  a  number  of  instances  the  books  constitute  about  all  the 
library  the  schools  have.  The  first  book  we  translated  was  '  Christie's 
Old  Organ,'  which  was  so  abundantly  welcomed  and  blessed  that  it 
appealed  to  the  benefactress  mentioned,  and  was  adopted  by  her  for 


fi8  WorlcVs  Third 

further  puljlioaliou,  auil  gave  its  name  to  tlic  fuml  wliich  she  has 
kindly  cslabllBhcd  for  tiiis  i^hrasc  of  the  work.  The  first  issue  was 
soon  followed  by  au  edition  in  modern  Greek,  and  that  in  turn  by 
editions  in  Japan,  Syria,  Germany,  Portugal,  Bulgaria,  India,  Mada- 
gascar, and  Egypt ;  while  two  editions,  one  in  French  and  one  in 
Flemish,  have  been  published  in  Belgium,  and  two  editions  each  in 
Hungary,  Bohemia,  Ceylon,  and  Spain. 

This  work  was  so  successful  that  it  was  decided  to  publish  another 
book,  and  '  Saved  at  Sea '  was  selected  for  that  purpose.  This  has 
been  published  in  Germany,  Hungary,  Bohemia,  Bulgaria,  Portugal, 
Spain,  India,  France,  Japan,  Oeylon,  Belgium,  and  Egypt,  with  two 
editions  in  Italy.  '  Angel's  Ohrifitmas '  has  been  issued  in  nine 
languages,  '  Sweet  Story  of  Old '  in  three,  and  is  being  issued  in 
another  in  Syria,  while  'Pilgrim  Sticet,' '  Little  Faith,'  'Alone  in 
London,' and  '  Lost  Gip'have  been  published  in  from  one  to  three 
languages  each. 

To  proceed  from  these  principles  and  raetliods  of  our  Society  into 
any  adequate  presentation  of  the  details  of  their  application  in  practice 
would  involve  an  immense  elaboration  of  particulars  which  would  far 
outrun  my  space  and  your  patience.  It  would  include  Ihe  history  of 
indifference  and  opposition  overcome,  of  information  imparted  and 
experiment  urged  until  experiment  blossomed  into  experience  and  bore 
fruit  in  conviction.  It  would  be  the  story  of  obstacles  yielding  to 
patient  and  enthusiastic  persistency  rmtil  a  success  and  efiiciency  has 
been  attained  which  at  first  was  deemed  hardly  conceivable.  It  would 
contain  the  humble  testimony  of  many  a  soul  which  started  out  saying, 
"  Who  is  sufScieut  for  these  things'?  "  and  learned  the  possiliilities  and 
tasted  the  sweet  reward  of  work  for  the  Master.  It  would  include  the 
story  of  at  least  one  who  pooh-poohed  the  work  at  first,  but  became  its 
enthusiastic  advocate  and  representative.  It  would  be  tlie  record  of 
progressive  organisation  made  possible  by  the  enlisting  and  fostering  of 
the  elements  from  which  it  could  grow.  It  would  also  tell  of  the 
nurture  of  work  which,  while  efficient  and  faithful,  has  not  yet  reached 
the  stage  or  the  status  which  makes  more  advanced  organisation  at 
present  practicable.  It  might  also  mention  work  cherished,  which 
through  imperfection  of  development  or  want  of  means,  local  or  mis- 
sionary organisations  might  have  overlooked.  We  have  no  desire  to 
vaunt  ourselves,  or  boast  beyond  our  measure ;  but,  while  recognising 
to  the  full  all  the  work  of  others,  I  presume  the  statement  might  be 
hazarded,  that  if  tlic  history  of  a  great  deal  of  the  work  which  is 
reported  at  this  convention  outside  of  England  and  English-speaking 
countries  were  thoroughly  traced,  it  would  reveal  in  some  stage  the 
counsel  and  co-operation  of  the  founder  of  our  Association,  or  of  the 
organisation  he  has  formed. 

Our  work,  while,  as  is  evident,  possessed  of  certain  well-defined 
features,  and  far  from  disconnected  scrappiness,  is  characterised  within 
those  limits  by  that  llexibility  which  marks  the  very  institution  whoso 
extension  we  seek.    Wc  have  done  a  work  which  has  a  distinctively 


Sunday  School  Convention.  59 

pioneer  character,  vindicating  the  adaptation  of  onr  methods  for  fields 
whicli,  for  one  reason  or  another,  societies  liave  not  thought  the  time 
ripe  to  enter.  For  years  we  have  been  aiding  Sunday  school  work 
and  workers  in  Spain,  Portugal  and  Japan  by  the  publication  of  a 
"  Child's  Illustrated  Sunday  School  Paper "  which  has  reached  a 
circulation  of  thousands,  and  a  weil-sustained  correspondence,  or 
both. 

You  will  have  observed  that  our  goal  is  the  increase  and  improve- 
ment of  voluntary  lay  religious  work  and  workers  in  the  difi'erent 
countries  touched  by  our  correspondence.  We  are  brought  by  the 
prosecution  of  this  designMnto  correspondence  with  the  native  Chris- 
tiana of  nominally  Christian  countries  in  which  little  or  no  denomina- 
tional missionary  work  is  done,  and  where  |lay  activity  is  still  in 
equipment  and  experience  (and  even  as  an  idea  and  conception)  far 
less  develojjed  than  it  is  with  us.  We  have  also  the  pleasure  in 
countries  which  are  yet  the  field  of  missionary  effort,  of  lending  a 
heli)ing  hand  both  to  natives  and  to  those  missionaries  who  find  that 
in  the  overtaxed  appropriations  of  their  respective  boards,  the  interests 
of  Sunday  scliools,  because  of  the  multiplicity  of  demands,  are  liable 
to  be  imperfectly  provided  for  in  proportion  to  their  value  and  their 
adaptation. 

Our  work  has  therefore  these  three  distinct  features  which  need  to 
be  recognised  if  it  is  to  be  thoroughly  understood.  It  is  Pioneer,  and 
Independent,  and  Supi^lementary  or  Co-operative. 

I  have  thus  sought  to  set  forth  the  spirit  and  outline  of  otir  work. 
It  is  an  outline  which,  we  must  confess,  has  been  very  imperfectly 
filled  out.  The  prolonged  and  unparalleled  financial  depression 
througli  which  we  have  been  lately  passing,  has  made  its  influence 
felt  upon  workers  both  at  home  and  abroad.  But  as  we  look  out  upon 
llie  field  and  note  the  amount  which  needs  yet  to  be  done  in  the 
awakening  of  the  nations  to  work  in  this  flexible  method  of  self- 
evangelisation,  we  hope  that  with  returning  prosperity  a  valuable 
work  may  yet  await  us  worthy  of  our  highest  consecration.  A  slight 
indication  in  this  direction  has  been  seen  in  aid  which  a  special  dona- 
tion from  an  interested  friend  has  enabled  us  to  undertake  this  current 
year  in  Bohemia.  But  work  accumulates  much  more  rapidly  than 
means  for  its  performance,  and  we  must  still  wait ;  yet  we  wait  in 
hope  of  a  returning  and  progressive  fruitfulness. 

THE  NEED  FOR  ORGANISED   WORK. 

I  hardly  need  argue  in  this  audience  the  need  of  some  organisation 
whose  work  it  shall  be  to  engage  in  the  oversight  of  the  special 
interests  of  Sunday  school  work  in  foreign  countries,  if  those  interests 
are  to  receive  adequate  attention.  Imagine  the  results  in  lands  where 
the  Sunday  school  is  already  recognised,  established,  embodied  and 
rooted,  if  one  may  so  say,  in  the  religious  life,  if  Sunday  school 
societies,  secretaries  and  conventions  were  to  be  abolished,  and  the 
interests  of  the  institution  were  to  be  left  to  the  supervision  of  the 


60  World's  Third 

usual  and  regular  gatherings  of  the  Church !  And  if  such  a  course 
would  be  lamentably  disastrous  in  the  green  tree,  what  can  we  antici- 
pate in  the  dry,  wlierc  the  institution  is  comparatively  unknown,  and 
can  hardly  be  said  to  have  won  its  Bpurs — if,  indeed,  it  has  made 
suflScicnt  progress  in  equipment  to  have  any  sj^urs  to  win — and  carries 
on  its  work  with  imperfect  acquaintance  with  methods,  and  in  the 
face  of  indifference  which  often  passes  into  active  hostility. 

So  let  me,  as  I  close,  remind  you  of  the  illustration  with  whicli 
we  set  out.  The  germs  of  Christian  life  which  it  has  been  our 
pleasurable  task  to  seek  out,  and  foster  and  train  in  their  vitality 
and  fruitfulness  are,  as  you  may  have  noticed,  widely  diffused  over 
the  surface  of  the  world.  I  like  to  think  of  our  correspondence  in 
connection  with  that  custom  by  which  tlio  Jews  of  Jerusalem 
announced  to  their  brethren  in  Babylon  the  moment  of  the  rising  of 
the  Paschal  moon.  They  had  no  teleplione ;  telegraphs  were  still  in 
the  future,  and  a  long  time  would  elapse  before  the  swiftest-footed 
runner  could  bear  the  tidings.  And  so  they  selected  a  number  of 
prominent  heights  each  in  sight  of  its  neighbour,  and  on  each  they 
erected  vast  piles  of  inflammable  material,  and  as  the  watchers  on  the 
first  peak  caught  the  light  of  the  rising  moon,  he  set  fire  to  his  pile, 
and  as  the  next  eastward  saw  the  mounting  blaze,  he  too  set  the  torch 
to  the  mass  which  he  had  accumulated ;  and  so  from  peak  to  point 
across  the  plains  the  light  flashed  on  its  message  until  the  gleam  of 
the  last  bonfire  was  seen  by  the  watchers  in  Babylon,  and  the  Jews  by 
the  Euphrates  knew  that  beyond  the  Jordan  Judca  was  keeping  the 
Passover.  So  as  I  think  of  the  workers  whom  we  have  been 
endeavouring  to  stimulate  and  succour,  each  in  his  surrounding 
darkness  and  discouragement  seeking  to  hold  forth  the  word  of  life, 
they  seem  like  beacon  lights  which,  while  dissipating  the  darkness 
around  them,  flash  each  to  his  neighbour  the  tidings  of  the  rising  of 
the  Sun  of  Eighteousness.  From  correspondent  to  correspondent  from 
France  to  Portugal,  to  Spain,  to  Italy,  to  Germany,  to  Bohemia, 
Moravia,  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  down  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  on  to  India 
and  over  to  China  and  Japan,  and  then  with  a  bound  to  Mexico  and 
the  sister  republics  of  South  America,  the  light  flashes  on.  And  when 
the  sun  is  risen  in  fulness  and  glory,  when  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth 
are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ,  then  in  the 
midst  of  it  may  be  more  conspicuous  agencies — I  dare  hardly  suggest 
tlic  fragments  exceed  them — it  may  bo  recognised  that  these  obscure 
fragmentary  forces  have  also  performed  an  appreciable  share  in  the 
hastening  of  that  day,  a  share  which  shall  receive  from  the  Master  the 
welcome  "  Well  done." 

"  For  not  by  eastern  windows  only 

When  daylight  comes,  conies  in  the  light ; 
In  front  the  sun  climbs  slow,  how  slowly. 
But  westward  look,  the  land  is  bright." 

The  hymn  "  To  Thee,  my  God  and  Saviour,"  was  here  sung. 


Sunday  School  Comention.  61 

The  President  :  I  have  now  the  pleasure  of  calling  upon  a  gentle- 
man whom  you  will  receive  with  very  great  interest,  and  to  whom 
you  will  give  a  Chautauqua  welcome,  because  he  is  going  to  a  new  field, 
just  as  Dr.  Phillips  did  from  the  1889  Convention,  Mr.  Ikehara  of  Japan, 
who  will  now  address  you. 

Japan. 

By  Mr.  T.  C.  Ikehara  (Tokio). 

International  Field  Worker  of  Japan. 

Mr.  Chairman,  members  of  the  Convention,  ladies  and  gentlemen, — 
It  is  no  common  pleasure,  I  assure  you,  to  be  present  at  this  memorable 
gathering  and  be  permitted  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  cause  I  love 
so  much.  My  pleasure  is  all  the  keener,  when  I  realise  the  fact  that 
in  the  annals  of  the  World's  Sunday  School  Conventions  this  is  the 
first  time  the  work  in  Japan  has  any  representative. 

I  trust,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  have  followed  with  interest  the 
progress  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  the  Island  Empire  of  Japan.  Ever 
since  the  introduction  of  Christian  faith  in  that  land  only  a  few  decades 
ago,  marvellous  achievements  were  accomplished,  and  only  a  few 
years  ago  the  number  of  Christians  reached  40,000  in  round  figures. 
Then  we  cried  out  in  ecstasy  of  joy  that  the  Empire  of  Japan  will  soon 
become  a  Christian  nation  ;  but  we  know  now  that  our  congratulations 
were  premature,  and  all  our  great  expectations  were  not  to  be 
realised. 

The  reaction  against  Christianity  set  in.  The  progress  of  the 
Gospel  was  marred,  and  now  for  a  few  years  the  statistics  show  no 
great  signs  of  improvement,  and  we  are  still  the  same  40,000,  among 
the  entire  population  of  42,000,000,  a  proportion  of  one  in  every  1050. 

It  pains  me  when  I  read  from  time  to  time  on  the  pages  of  maga- 
zines, the  organs  of  Buddhism  or  Shintoism,  the  boasting  words  of 
their  ring-leaders,  "  We  have  now  completely  checked  the  invasion 
of  a  destructive  Christ  religion,"  or  "  we  are  now  in  position  to  root 
out  the  Christianity  from  the  land."  I  know  too  well  that  the 
love  of  our  Saviour  has  taken  a  deep  root  iu  the  hearts  of  Christians  in 
Japan,  and  that  nothing  can  in  any  way  separate  them  from  it,  and 
yet  my  heart  is  grieved  beyond  measure  as  I  look  on  that  far  away 
field  of  Christian  enterprise,  and  see  that  we  are  but  now  holding  a 
position  of  defence  after  so  many  years  of  successful  and  aggressive 
warfare. 

I  have  a  younger  brother,  a  zealous  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  whom  I 
had  the  profound  satisfaction  of  leading  to  see  the  Nazarene,  through 
a  Sunday  school  in  which  I  was  actively  and  successfully  engaged, 
though  I  was  then  a  mere  lad  of  fourteen.  Both  he  and  I,  as  well  as 
many  Christians  in  Japan,  would  gladly  lay  down  our  lives  to  restore 
the  once  progressive  condition  of  our  missionary  eiforts,  and  free  our 
fellow-men  from  the  superstition  and  prejudice  by  which  they  are 
surrounded, 


62  World's  Third 

Among  the  forces  united  to  counteract  the  influence  of  Christian 
missions  are : — 

1.  The  followers  of  Confucius  who  have  no  definite  places  of 
meeting,  no  definite  plans  of  extending  their  doctrine.  A  few  of 
them  meet  whenever  and  wherever  they  choose  to  study  together 
the  Ethico-political  teachings  of  their  sage.  They  have  no  organi- 
sation and  they  exist  in  groups,  consequently  there  is  no  way  of 
ascertiiiniug  the  number  of  these  moralists.  Wc  know  that,  however, 
their  influence  is  enormous.  In  all  the  i^ublic  and  grammar  schools 
throughout  the  empii-e,  the  books  of  Confucius  are  taught  as  the  basis 
of  moral  education,  and  yet  strictly  speaking  the  Confucian  code  of 
morals  is  not  a  religious  system. 

2.  Shintoism,  with  its  190,803  temples  and  14,829  priests  form  a 
very  formidable  obstacle  to  our  work.  They  are  sub-divided  into  nine 
separate  bodies,  each  distinct  from  the  others  in  its  conception  of  the 
gods  it  worships.  They  have  no  idea  of  their  own  strength  for  they 
make  no  definite  demarcation  between  believers  and  unbelievers. 
Besides  these  nine  there  is  one  sect  which  is  classified  as  another 
branch  of  Shintoism,  and  its  teaching  is  very  harmful  to  the  morals  of 
the  people,  and  yet  it  claims  the  following  of  some  G,000,000. 

Buddhism  is  the  strongest  and  gi-eatest  enemy.  Among  the 
Buddhist  priests  there  are  men  of  keen  intellect  and  foresight,  and 
they  have  made  a  careful  investigation  of  our  organisation  and  adopted 
some  advantageous  plans.  They  have  established  private  schools  of 
all  grades,  women's  societies,  lectures,  systems  of  assemblies,  magazines 
and  newspapers,  and  Young  Men's  Buddhist  Associations.  They  are 
very  aggressive  in  their  endeavours,  and  make  all  sorts  of  plans  to 
extend  their  influence  over  the  entire  land.  The  twelve  sects  of 
Buddhism  very  widely  differ  in  their  teachings ;  but  in  their  efforts  to 
counteract  the  invasion  of  our  faith  they  are  one.  These  twelve  aro 
again  subdivided  into  3G  distinctive  religious  bodies  with  4G  high 
priesis,  200,490  instructors,  52,994  priests,  10,989  theological  students 
and  108,330  temples. 

The  followers  of  Buddhism  numbering  about  15,000,000,  are  very 
zealous  in  their  superstitious  belief,  and  it  is  a  common  occurrence  for 
followers  of  the  Hongwanji  sect  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Kyoto  and 
devote  to  the  temple  all  the  money  saved  up  during  a  lifetime  to  the 
last  penny. 

The  Eomau  Catholic  Church  in  Japan  has  now  52,792  adherents, 
and  the  Greek  Church  23,850. 

Amid  these  counter-forces  our  Protestant  missionaries  and  |Ualive 
workers  representing  30  missionary  organisations  have  planted  885 
stations,  and  best  of  all,  wherever  they  went  they  established  Sunday 
schools  which,  according  to  statistics  collected  this  spring,  shows  901 
schools,  of  which  about  100  were  in  Tokio,  and  35,033  scholars,  a  gain 
of  til  sciiools  and  4409  scholars  over  la»t  year. 

The  number  of  scholars  thus  given,  however,  needs  an  explanation. 
In  the  Sunday  schools  of  Japan  the  number  attending  each  school 


Sunday  School  Convention.  63 

varies  materially.  In  some  schools  we  find  only  half-a-dozea  scholars, 
•while  a  few  schools  have  two  or  three  hundred  each  ;  but  on  the  whole 
the  school  attendance  is  extremely  irregular,  and  in  the  figures  just 
quoted  are  included  a  large  number  of  those  who  have  attended  only 
two  or  three  Simdays  in  a  j^ear. 

This  irregularity  of  attendance  is  due  <o  the  fact  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  scholars  are  the  children  of  the  lower  class  who  attend 
from  curiosity,  and  in  many  cases  they  come  without  their  imrents' 
knowledge. 

Of  course,  these  are  very  hard  scholars  to  teach,  for  they  arc 
generally  very  inattentive,  and  their  ill-behaviour  is  often  a  hindrance 
to  the  instruction  of  a  lesson ;  yet  it  is  very  encouraging  to  know 
that  once  in  a  while  a  seed  thus  sown  jiroduces  aa  abundant  harvest. 
Besides  this  class  of  scholars  we  have  two  distinct  sets  of  children  in 
our  schools.  The  first  of  these  is  the  children  of  Christian  parents. 
They  are  sent  to  learn  and  they  come  to  learn.  They  are  very  regular 
and  punctual  in  their  attendance,  and  receive  the  instruction  with 
utmost  attention.  The  other  class  of  children  are  those  of  well-to-do 
parents,  who  though  themselves  unbelievers  in  the  Gospel  of  our 
Master,  are  willing  that  their  children  should  receive  the  Isest 
Christian  teaching.     These  too  make  excellent  scholars. 

The  teachers  in  the  Sunday  schools  of  Japan  are  composed  of  some 
earnest  Christian  native  Bible  women,  the  pastors,  and  in  some  cases 
missionaries  and  their  wives,  theological  students,  while  students  from 
various  mission  schools  often  come  to  assist  our  teaching  work.  In 
larger  schools  we  have  regular  superintendent,  secretary,  treasurer, 
librarian,  but  in  most  cases  their  duties  are  attended  to  by  the  teachers 
themselves.  In  a  few  cases  only  one  earnest  Christian  without  any 
assistant  or  helper  held  a  Bible  class  in  an  out-of-the-way  place  and 
is  doing  noble  work. 

The  Bible  lessons  taught  in  these  schools  differ  very  widely  ;  only  a 
small  i)ercentage  using  the  International  Lesson  System,  the  others 
studying  the  Word  of  God  on  an  independent  plan.  This  is  owing 
to  the  lack  of  co-operation,  and  we  hope  that  in  a  near  future  some 
vigorous  steps  will  be  taken  to  persuade  all  the  schools  to  adojit 
uniform  lessons,  and  until  that  can  be  eff"ected  any  helps  on  the  lesson 
which  are  now  published  will  be  of  very  little  use. 

I  have  thus  in  a  condensed  form  endeavoured  to  give  you  glimpses 
of  the  surroundings  and  conditions  of  Sunday  school  work  in  Japan  ; 
but  before  I  conclude,  permit  me  to  say  that  the  Sunday  school  work  is 
the  hope  of  salvation  of  that  Eastern  kingdom,  inasmuch  as  the  future 
of  a  nation  lies  with  the  children,  and  formation  is  better  than 
reformation.  I  am  fully  convinced  that  if  we  seize  the  10,000,000  of 
boys  and  girls  in  Japan  to-day  and  give  them  a  sword  of  the  Spirit 
they  will  to-morrow  conquer  that  nation  in  the  name  of  our  King 
Jesus  Christ. 

Again,  there  is  peculiar  fitness  for  this  work  in  my  native  land. 
There  we  can  hardly  get  any  grown  people  to  come  to  the  Church  ; 


64  World's  Third 

but  I  assure  you  that  it  is  au  easy  matter  to  gather  a  crowd  of 
children  anywhere  in  the  empire  and  teach  them  the  love  of  Christ, 
and  through  them  the  adult  portion  of  the  country.  It  is  the 
design  of  the  International  Sunday  School  Executive  Committee, 
whom  I  represent,  to  unite  the  eflbrts  of  all  the  Sunday  schools,  and 
assist  in  their  work  and  establish  new  schools  wherever  practicable, 
and  thus  to  aid  in  the  missionary  work  of  all  the  denominational 
boards. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  wo  have  met  here  with  one  mind,  striving 
together  for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  We  aim  at  no  less  than  the 
federation  of  all  parts  of  the  world  under  one  government  of  our 
King  Lord  Jesus.  While  we  are  here  may  His  Spirit  fill  us,  and 
"when  wo  sliall  return  to  our  several  countries  to  make  our  best 
endeavours  may  He  crown  our  efforts  with  success. 

The  President  :  I  understand  Mr.  Ikehara  to  say  that  it  was  possible 
he  might  lay  down  his  life  in  his  work.  I  think  it  is  extremely  pro- 
bable the  Lord  may  allow  that  to  take  place.  Therefore,  let  us  give 
him  our  prayers  as  he  goes  out  to  the  work.  He  will  meet  with  a 
peculiar  class  of  antagonists — men  who  will  be  very  bitter  against  the 
Christian  religion,  and  he  will  have  a  great  fight.  The  only  way  is  to 
succeed  with  the  little  ones,  and  train  up  the  next  generation.  If  the 
Lord  does  as  He  has  done  with  Dr.  Phillips  and  our  good  friend  Mr. 
Surges,  we  shall  have  cause  to  rejoice  at  the  next  Convention,  and  to 
thank  God  for  progress  made  in  that  extraordinary  and  interesting 
country.  I  am  sure  we  have  listened  with  very  much  pleasm'e  to 
Mr.  Ikehara's  paper,  and  he  will  take  with  him  our  prayers  and 
thoughts  when  he  goes  forth  on  his  great  mission.  Now  I  will  ask 
you  to  listen  to  a  paper  prepared  by  the  successor  to  our  friend  Dr. 
Phillips,  the  Eev.  Eichard  Burges,  Indian  Sunday  school  missionary. 
It  will  be  submitted  by  our  friend  Mr.  Jewson,  of  Calcutta. 


INDIA'S  HUNDRED  MILLION  CHILDEEN. 

By  Eev.  E.  Bukges. 

(Head  hy  Eev.  A.  Jewson  (Calcutta)). 

The  India  Sunday  School  Union  was  founded  at  Allahabad  by  the 
representatives  of  eight  Missionary  Societies  in  187(3.  It  has  grown 
gradually,  and  now  covers  the  whole  of  India,  Ceylon,  Buima,  and  the 
Straits  Settlements. 

In  1889  the  World's  First  Sunday  School  Convenliou  heard  a  paper 
on  Sunday  school  work  in  India,  and  rcsiwudcd  to  the  request  for  a 
man  to  serve  in  the  double  capacity  of  India  Sunday  school  missionary 
and  secretary  to  the  India  Sunday  School  Union.  The  next  year  Dr. 
J.  F.  Phillips  entered  upon  tlie  work  with  "  prospects  briglit  as  the 
promises  of  God." 

The  World's  Second  Sunday  School  Convention  was  deeply  moved 
by  Dr.  Phillips'  account  of  what  the  Lord  had  wrought  by  him.    At 


Sunday  Scliool  Convention.  65 

the  end  of  four  and  a  half  fmitful  years  God  called  our  leader  to  Him- 
self— "  God  buries  the  worker,  but  He  carries  on  the  work,"  and  no 
effort  is  being  spared  by  those  now  in  the  field  to  complete  the 
structure  previously  planned  and  begun. 

The  India  Sunday  School  Union  exists  to  emphasise  the  spiritual 
aim  and  end  of  Sunday  school  effort,  to  consolidate  and  extend  Sunday 
school  work,  to  educate  Sunday  school  teachers  in  the  principles  and 
methods  of  teaching,  and  to  produce  English  and  vernacular  literature 
suitable  for  our  teachers  and  scholars. 

The  India  Sunday  School  Union  is  a  very  simple  organisation. 
Stephen  Jacob,  Esq.,  Comptroller  of  the  Indian  Paper  Currency,  is  our 
President.  Eepresentative  missionaries  and  laymen  living  in  or  near 
Calcutta  form  the  central  executive  committee.  Our  vast  field  is 
covered  by  sixteen  auxiliary  Sunday  School  Unions.  Almost  all  the 
denominations  of  Protestant  Christendom  have  their  representatives 
in  this  great  country,  but  in  the  presence  of  Hindooisra  and  Mahome- 
danism  sectarian  differences  are  reduced  to  the  vanishing  point,  and 
enthusiasm  for  Sunday  schools  is  a  fire  that  welds  all  the  societies 
into  one. 

The  term  "  Sunday  school "  probably  conveys  to  minds  in  the  home 
countries  an  idea  far  different  from  that  which  it  carries  to  us  in 
India.  For  example,  Mr.  J.  Hewett  writes  from  Travancore :  "  Men 
and  women,  of  whom  only  about  20  per  cent,  can  read,  as  well  as  boys 
and  girls,  are  being  taught  in  our  Sunday  schools.  In  many  cases 
after  the  ordinary  preaching  service  is  over,  the  congregation  takes  the 
form  of  a  big  Sunday  school  class.  In  other  instances  the  congrega- 
tion is  divided  into  groups,  so  that  the  requirements  of  all  may  be 
the  better  met.  Comparatively  little  is  being  done  among  heathen 
children ;  nevertheless  for  them  schools  are  carried  on,  in  weavers' 
workshops,  on  verandahs  of  houses,  or  under  the  shadow  of  some 
sheltering  tree." 

The  Rev.  J.  Taylor  writes  from  the  Central  Provinces :  "  We  have 
every  description  of  Sunday  school  in  this  wide  district ;  from  the 
well  organised  English  Sunday  school,  with  its  library  and  inter- 
national lesson  pictures,  to  a  small  gathering  of  ignorant  children 
under  the  village  tree,  with  a  Christian  Sunday  school  teacher  who 
cannot  read  or  write." 

The  secretary  of  the  Bengal  Sunday  School  Union  writes:  "God 
has  set  before  us  an  open  door.  The  children  of  Bengal  are  accessible. 
In  Hindoo  school-rooms,  on  verandahs,  under  trees,  and  even  in 
Hindoo  temples  children  may  be  gathered  and  taught  of  Christ." 

Dr.  Lueriiig  writes  from  Singapore :  "  The  larger  portion  of  our 
Sunday  school  work  is  done  in  thirty-two  very  interesting  out-door 
schools,  some  of  which  are  held  as  early  as  6.30  a.m." 

These  few  extracts  are  sufficient  to  show  that  our  Sunday  schools 
differ  greatly  both  in  character  and  in  size. 

Let  us  now  speak  of  the  methods  adopted  by  the  India  Sunday 
School  to  help  these  schools. 

P 


66  World's  Third 

The  da3'B  of  universal  prayer  have  been  widely  observed  among  us 
for  many  ycarsi,  and  spiritual  results  arc  not  lacking.  It  takes  some 
months,  and  requires  the  greatest  care  to  carry  tlio  intimation  along 
ranks  in  which  so  many  languages  are  spoken.  India  Sunday  school 
workers  pray  for  those  who  labour  in  Christian  lauds ;  and  wo 
earnestly  crave  that  India  shall  not  bo  forgotten  in  tlie  prayers  of 
Christendom ! 

Of  late  we  have  been  doing  our  best  to  get  libraries  established  in 
connection  with  our  scliools,  and  we  are  maturing  plans  for  supplying 
Sunday  school  requisites  at  reduced  rates.  The  measure  of  the  finan- 
cial help  our  Union  receives  will  bo  the  measure  of  our  usefulness. 

The  India  Sunday  School  Union  has  endeavoured  to  secure  statistics. 
The  greatest  patience  is  required  to  collect  them  from  so  wide  a  field, 
and  from  Sunday  schools  of  so  many  types.  The  absence  of  the  mis- 
sionary from  his  headquarters,  the  weather,  heathen  fensts,  famine, 
riots,  plague  and  death  often  hinder  the  numbering  of  the  children. 
Tho  statistics  of  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  IMethodist  schools  were  buried 
in  tho  recent  earthquake,  but  the  schools  with  their  eleven  thousand 
scholars  remain — an  illustration  of  the  fact  tliat  many  schools  exist  of 
which  we  fail  to  get  the  figures.  (We  look  forward  to  tho  time  when 
every  missionary  society  will  collect  its  own  Sunday  school  statistics 
on  forms  similar  to  those  used  by  the  Sunday  Sclmol  Union.  Our 
difficulties  with  regard  to  statistics  will  then  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.) 
At  the  World's  First  Sunday  School  Convention  we  reported  2757 
schools,  and  116,014  teachers  and  scholars.  To-day  wo  report  5538 
schools,  and  257,671  teachers  and  scholars. 

Out  of  India's  300  million  people  44  millions  are  under  five  years  of 
age,  and  73  millions  are  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fourteen  years. 
Let  us  remember  that  out  of  this  inconceivable  multitude  only  a  little 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  have  been  gathered  into  Sunday 
schools ! 

An  attempt  is  made  to  hold  an  Annual  Sunday  School  Convention 
in  each  of  our  sixteen  auxiliary  uuious.  Dr.  Phillips  covered  immense 
distances  iu  order  to  conduct  them.  The  present  Secretary  is  also 
doing  his  best  in  the  same  direction.  In  1897  fifteen  thousand  miles 
of  sea  and  land  were  traversed  iu  endeavouring  to  stir  up  interest  in 
Sunday  schools  among  all  classes  of  people. 

The  International  Bible  Reading  Association  forms  an  important 
branch  of  our  work. 

The  extension  and  consolidation  of  the  International  Bible  Heading 
Association  will,  as  it  were,  inoculate  our  young  people  with  home 
Bible  study ;  and  that  study  will  mightily  help  both  our  Sunday 
schools  and  our  young  people's  societies. 

Though  thirty  languages  and  dialects  are  used  in  our  schools,  the 
magazine  which  unites  our  workers  is  conducted  in  English.  We  are 
piroud  of  our  forty-paged  India  Sunday  School  Journal,  now  in  its 
seventh  year  of  publication.  The  lofsons  expounded  are  the  Inter- 
national.   The  wrjters  are  the  pick  of  our  India  missionaries.    Our 


Sunday  School  Convention,  67 

subscribers  are  scattered  from  the  eternal  snows  of  the  Himalayas 
down  to  the  Equator ;  and  from  Karachi  right  across  to  Mandalay. 
The  editor's  position  is  an  honorary  one,  and  all  the  matter  is  written 
gratuitously.  As  the  missionaries  who  do  the  work  are  over-burdened 
with  their  own  special  duties,  this  is  a  proof  of  real  self-denial,  and 
splendid  enthusiasm  for  Sunday  schools. 

We  look  upon  Lesson  Leaves  as  of  vital  importance,  and  foster  their 
production  in  every  India  language.  These  Lesson  Leaves  are  of  two 
kinds — dated  and  undated.  The  International  series  of  lessons  is 
firmly  rooted  in  many  of  our  schools,  and  the  dated  Lesson  Leaves  arc 
devoted  to  their  exposition.  Many  missionaries,  however,  think  that 
as  the  majority  of  the  children  are  under  our  care  for  only  a  very  short 
time  it  is  essential  that  wc  should  at  once  begin  to  acquaint  them  with 
the  life  of  the  Saviour.  This  conviction  has  called  into  existence 
undated  leaflets  on  the  life  of  Christ. 

The  first  use  of  the  Lesson  Leaflets  is  in  the  Sunday  school.  To 
our  teachers  they  are  of  great  value,  as,  except  in  one  or  two  instances, 
commentaries  do  not  exist  in  this  many  tongued  land  ;  to  our  scholars 
they  are  indispensable,  as  very  few  of  them  can  afford  a  Bible.  The 
mission  of  the  Lesson  Leaflet,  however,  is  not  ended  in  the  school. 
The  children  are  encouraged  to  make  known  to  others  the  meaning  of 
the  pictures,  and  it  would  astonish  you  to  know  how  many  people  in 
heathen  homes  hear  these  Lesson  Leaves  read  and  explained  to  them 
by  the  children,  and  how  many  poverty  stricken  Indian  homes  have 
their  bare  walls  adorned  with  our  simple  Gospel  pictures. 

In  1895  an  examination  was  held  for  the  scholars  of  our  schools  in 
Calcutta.  The  scheme  has  now  been  extended  to  the  whole  of  our 
constituency.  The  examination  is  held  in  July,  and  the  subject  is  the 
International  Series  of  Lessons  for  the  preceding  six  months.  Our 
examiners  are  chosen  from  among  the  most  scholarly  missionaries 
within  our  borders,  and  are  changed  every  year.  Last  year's  exami- 
nation was  conducted  in  eleven  languages.  Besides  the  written 
examination  we  have  a  viva  voce  department  for  little  children.  For 
the  teachers  also  we  have  this  year  started  an  examination  in  the 
lessons  they  liave  taught.  The  India  Sunday  School  Union  grants 
prizes  and  certificates  for  a  fixed  percentage  of  marks  secured,  and 
also  bears  the  expense  of  organising  the  examination.  A  considerable 
sum  of  money  is  sunk  in  this  work,  but  if  the  lessons  are  better  learned 
and  taught  the  investment  will  prove  a  good  one.  Perhaps  s5me  one 
would  like  to  help  forward  this  department  by  offering  gold  or  silver 
medals.     If  so,  please  intimate  it  to  the  Chairman. 

The  minutes  remaining  shall  be  used  in  speaking  of  our  expecta- 
tions. We  make  no  apology  for  our  earnestness  and  daring.  India, 
with  its  117  million  of  get-atable  children,  presents  the  supremest 
opportunity  in  the  heathen  world.  The  evangelisation  of  India  in 
this  generation  is  by  no  means  an  impossible  task  to  the  Sunday 
schools  of  Christendom. 

F  2 


68  World's  Third 

How  Can  We  Help? 

"  In  answer  to  this  question,  let  us  listen  to  a  letter  from  Dr.  T.  J. 
Scott,  the  founder  and  lionorary  Secretary  of  the  India  Sunday  School 
Union : — 

Bareilly  Theological  Seminary,  March  10th,  1893. 
Dear  Brother  Burges, — I  think  the  plan  of  laying  something  beforo 
the  coming  Sunday  School  Convention  very  good.  The  first  one  in 
Loudiin  gave  us  a  mighty  uplift,  this  one  may  send  us  much  higher 
in  our  important  work.  In  my  opinion  tlioy  can  help  us  greatly  at 
two  points,  and  I  put  them  in  the  order  of  immediato  importance  : — 

I.  Some  one  to  help  in  the  Head  Office.  Such  a  person  sliould  be 
steadily  on  hand : — 

To  work  on  the  journal, 

To  assist  in  general  office  work, 

To  push  the  executive  side  of  all  plans  formed,  and 

To  work  on  literature. 

Of  necessity  the  Field  Secretary  spends  a  large  part  of  his  time  in 
the  field  ;  and  work  at  the  Head  Office,  in  answering  communications, 
collecting  statistics  and  executing  plans  formed  will  be  continually 
increasing.  This  executive  idea  is  most  important.  It  is  easy  to 
make  plans,  but  you  want  a  good  executive  officer  to  push  them. 
Ordinary  missionaries  are  loaded  down,  but  co-operating  with  them 
special  Sunday  school  agency  can  accomplish  great  things. 

II.  We  need  a  Fund  for  Vernacular  Literature,  pictures,  &c. : — 
Given  the  money,  these  can  be  worked  up.  The  '  Monthly  Illus- 
trated Child's  Paper'  proposed  by  the  India  Sunday  School  Union 
would  work  wonders  if  established.  Children  learn  through  the  eyo 
as  rapidly  as  through  the  ear.  This  little  visitor  carried  into  their 
homes  would  appeal  to  millions. 

May  the  coming  Convention  send  a  mighty  wave  of  Sunday  school 
power  round  the  globe. 

Yours  for  the  Master, 
T.  J.  Scott. 
In  listening  to  tliis  letter  probably  some  will  bo  reminded  of  the 
poor  woman  who,  a  few  days  before  Christmas,  was  ushered  into  the 
presence  of  a  good-hearted  country  squire,  with  an  empty  basket  on 
her  arm.  "  Please  sir,"  said  she,  "  I  have  come  to  thank  you  for  what 
you  ga'Ve  me  last  Cliristmas."  That  poor  woman,  with  her  empty 
basket,  represents  the  India  Sunday  School  Union.  It  was  the  needs 
of  her  six  children  that  caused  the  woman  to  adopt  her  humble 
fctratagem.  It  is  the  cry  of  the  117  millions  of  Indian  cliildren — 
12,000  of  whom  die  every  hour,  which  has  entered  into  our  souls  and 
makes  us  biggars  at  your  door. 

"  From  India's  sunny  shore, 
A  hundred  million  cry  : 
Give  us  the  Bible  and  the  School, 
And  save  us  ere  we  die." 

(Signed)        R.  Burges. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  G9 

The  President  :  It  may  not  be  known  to  all  our  delegates  that  the 
cost  of  the  whole  of  the  work  carried  out  by  Mr.  B urges,  and  his 
salary  and  travelling  expenses,  are  met  by  the  small  subscription  of 
one  halfpenny  a  year  from  the  members  of  the  International  Bible 
Reading  Association.  I  doubt  not  that  the  energetic  Secretary  of 
that  great  movement  is  prepared  by  some  similar  scheme  to  raise  an 
additional  sum  if  required  for  the  maintenance  of  a  missionary  in  that 
great  country  which  has  been  so  eloquently  pleaded  for  just  now  by 
Mr.  Ikehara.  We  notice  from  America  the  name  of  a  friend  to  give  a 
report  of  the  work  in  China,  but  we  have  several  reports  from  several 
countries,  and  I  am  going  to  ask  the  Rev.  Professor  Hamill  to  kindly 
give  us  an  extract  from  the  report  received  of  the  work  in  Norway. 

Norway. 
Paper  by  Dr.  J.  Heimbeck  (Read  by  Professor  Hamill). 

Dear  Sunday  school  friends, — There  was  a  little  girl  of  three  years, 
who  was  reproached  by  her  fatlier  for  having  been  unkind  to  one  of 
her  brothers.  The  little  one  had  no  explanation,  no  excuse,  no  affir- 
mation, no  denial  to  present.  Her  large  blue  eyes  looked  steadfastly 
into  those  of  her  father  as  she  uttered  the  following  significant 
words,  that  to  her  mind  presented  themselves  as  the  only  probable 
way  of  escape  from  the  dreaded  punishment.  "I  do  love  Jesus." 
And  they  proved  a  way  of  escape.  The  heart  of  the  father,  that  had 
perhaps  been  too  cold,  was  thawed  by  rays  of  the  heavenly  love.  He 
believed  that  the  sin  of  the  child  was  acknowledged  and  forgiven, 
and  that  the  child  was  in  Jesus. 

Jesus  embraced  in  faith  is,  and  will  always  be,  the  only  good  weapon 
against  all  distress  and  danger  from  within  and  without,  yea,  against 
everything  that  may  harm  the  children  of  men. 

We,  dear  friends,  who  have  tasted  the  goodness  of  Jesus,  we  know 
it,  and  believe  it,  and  know  nothing  else  to  offer  the  little  ones  on  the 
benches  around  us  for  salvation  and  happiness.  Our  desire  is,  that 
they  above  everything  else  may  become  the  precious  treasures  and 
possession  of  tlie  children  in  our  countries. 

It  is  now  about  fifty-five  years  since  the  first  Sunday  school  teachers 
in  Norway  gathered  round  them  the  first  Sunday  school  children, 
and  since  then  the  number  both  of  workers,  classes,  and  children  has 
been  increasing. 

Most  of  the  Sunday  school  labour  is  still,  as  far  as  is  known,  with- 
out any  mutual  outward  connection.  The  Norwegian  Sunday  School 
Association  was  formed  some  time  ago  in  order  to  effect  an  amalgama- 
tion of  all  the  Sunday  schools  of  the  State  church.  The  number  of 
Sunday  schools  that  have  joined  the  Association  has  constantly  been 
on  the  iucrease. 

The  number  of  the  Sunday  schools  in  the  State  church,  that  we 
have  any  knowledge  of,  is  about  500,  with  1700  teachers,  and  44.000 
children. 

Since  the  last  (the  4th)  Scandinavian  Sunday  scliool  meeting  the 


70  World's  Third 

Norwegian  Sunday  School  Association  has  employed  the  following 
means  for  tlie  furthering  of  the  Sunday  school  cause,  viz. — 

The  periodical  '  The  Sunday  School,'  which  was  started  and  edited 
by  the  clergyman  Carsten  Hanssen,  contained  an  explanation  of  the 
texts  nsed  in  the  State  church.  The  explanation  was  intended  chiefly 
for  tlio  Sunday  school  teachers.  The  periodical  was  taken  over  by 
the  Norwegian  Sunday  School  Association,  who  continued  to  edit  it, 
and  got  a  8upi)ort  for  this  purpose  from  the  Storting,  of  kr.lOOO.  The 
whole  work  is  now  complete  in  three  volumes. 

The  periodical  '  B0rnebibliotheket,'  chiefly  intended  for  children, 
printed  weekly  5200  copies.    It  is  edited  by  the  authoress  Margrethe. 

A  now  Sunday  school  hymn-book,  for  use  at  divine  services  for 
children  and  in  tlie  homes,  containing  235  hymns  and  songs,  and  also 
directions  for  arranging  the  time  at  the  Sunday  school,  and  the 
Liturgy,  has  since  last  autumn  appeared  in  two  editions. 

Tunes  to  the  said  book  will  appear  in  the  course  of  the  present 
autumn. 

In  July,  189G,  the  second  Norwegian  Sunday  school  meeting  for  the 
whole  country  was  held  at  Molde.  For  two  days  a  great  number  of 
Sunday  school  teachers  were  gathered  there  for  deliberation  and 
brotherly  conversation. 

In  September,  1896,  clergyman  Jacob  Walnura  was  employed  to 
labour  for  the  Sunday  school  cause  throughout  the  country,  by  travels, 
addresses,  meetings,  and  collections.  Unfortunately,  ]\Ir.  AValnum 
fould  not  labour  in  the  Sunday  school  cause  more  than  half-a-year, 
as  ho  had  already  got  interested  in  another  important  work  in  our 
country,  a  work  for  which  it  would  probably  be  more  difficult  to  find 
a  suitable  man  than  for  the  Sunday  school  cause.  Pastor  Nilsen  has 
now  been  engaged  as  secretary,  and  Old  Nesse  as  travelling  preacher. 

At  the  close  of  last  year  the  Association  sent  out  a  call  to  all  the 
Sunday  school  children  in  Norway  to  give  small  amounts  of  money 
for  the  building  of  a  homo  for  healthy  children  of  lejirous  parents 
at  Madagascar,  a  work  that  some  years  ago  was  commenced  by  the 
Norwegian  Missionary  Society ;  50,000  copies  of  the  call  were  printed, 
and  the  idea  proved  a  good  one.  Contributions  were  soon  sent  in, 
and  are  still  received.  Sunday  school  children  have  hitlierto  con- 
tributed about  kr.2000  to  the  unhappy  little  suff^erers  at  Madagascar. 

Of  the  evangelical  Sunday  scliool  in  our  country  not  connected 
with  the  State  church  the  following  report  has  been  sent  us  : — 

The  Methodists  . 
The  Free  Church     . 
The  Free  Mission     . 
The  Baptists       .      .      . 
The  Salvation  Army 

Total  .      .      .      .249  schools.   1611  teachers.    21,401  children. 
The  work  has,  in  spite  of  much  misapprehension  and  consequent 


59  schools. 

559  te 

aehcrs. 

G250  children. 

38       „ 

291 

„ 

5000 

J) 

61       „ 

308 

)) 

5455 

)) 

35       „ 

189 

„ 

2196 

» 

50       „ 

2G4 

» 

2500 

" 

Sunday  School  Convention.  71 

antagonism,  been  greatly  blessed  by  the  Lord  during  the  past  years. 
The  work  within  the  above  connections  is  carried  on  in  about  the 
same  manner.  Where  it  is  advisable,  the  school  is  divided  into  classes 
of  10-15  children  to  each  teacher,  and  one  superintendent  for  the 
whole  school.  The  International  Bible  tests  are  generally  used.  The 
school  is  commenced  with  a  hymn  and  prayer.  For  half-an-hour  the 
text  is  gone  through  in  the  classes,  whereupon  the  superintendent 
summarises  the  chief  contents  of  the  text.  Many  Sunday  schools 
make  use  of  the  large  coloured  pictures  of  the  International  tests. 
Liturgy  and  the  Apostles'  Creed  is  not  used.  In  connection  with  the 
Sunday  school  there  arc  some  that  hold  meetings  for  children  one 
evening  in  the  week. 

There  is  a  committee  in  Kristiania,  and  one  in  Bergen,  that  each 
support  and  control  a  missionary  for  the  east  and  west  part  of  the 
country.  These  missionaries  have  constantly  been  in  activity,  and 
laboured  impartially  in  the  Sunday  school  of  the  State  church  as 
well  as  of  the  Dissenters.  They  have  also  succeeded  in  establishing 
many  new  Sunday  schools.  The  work  cost  last  year  about  kr.7000. 
The  Sunday  School  Union  in  Loudon  still  send  contributions.  There 
is  a  great  want  of  suitable  teachers.  Last  year  a  series  of  fifteen 
meetings  were  held  in  Kristiania  in  order  to  assist  the  Sunday  school 
teachers.  The  literature  of  the  Sunday  school  is  constantly  increasing. 
Several  hymn  books  for  the  Sunday  school  have  been  published. 

The  President  :  I  am  very  glad  you  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
hearing  that  interesting  report  from  Norway,  and  that  the  work  is 
progressing  there.  Now  wo  should  like  to  hear  Dr.  Burt  upon  the 
work  in  Italy. 

Italy. 
By  Dr.  Burt  (Borne). 

Not  expecting  to  give  a  report  at  this  moment,  I  have  not  all  the 
facts  in  order  as  I  would  like  to  have  presented  them  to  you,  but  I 
will  give  them  in  as  few  brief  words  as  possible,  setting  before  you 
the  work  we  are  trying  to  do  in  the  Kingdom  of  Italy. 

Up  to  the  year  1891  we  had  no  Union  of  Sunday  school  work  in 
Italy.  In  that  year  a  meeting  was  called  in  the  city  of  Rome,  and 
a  committee*  was  organised,  which  we  called  a  local  committee  for  a 
time,  of  representatives  from  all  denominations.  This  committee  was 
soon  formed  into  a  national  committee,  and  through  the  kindness 
and  liberality  of  the  Loudon  Sunday  School  Union  a  secretary  was 
appointed  some  two  years  later,  who  has  taken  charge  of  the  work. 
We  use  the  International  Lessons  in  all  the  schools  of  the  Union; 
that  is  one  of  the  conditions  of  belonging  to  the  Union.  Wo  publish 
a  quarterly  called  the  '  Sunday  School,'  of  which  we  issue  about 
1000  copies  every  quarter.  We  have  an  army  now  of  about  a  thousand 
teachers,  881  of  whom  are  in  the  Union.  We  have,  as  you  heard  this 
morning,  about  15,000  pupils  in  our  Sunday  schools  in  Italy,  of  whom 
11,788  are  in  the  Union. 


72  World'8  Third 

Do  you  understand  what  it  means  to  have  in  the  Kingdom  of  Italy 
to-day  15,000  chiklren  in  Protest.mt  Sunday  schools,  when  you  re- 
member that  only  a  short  time  ago  the  Word  of  God  was  not  permitted 
to  be  read  or  kept  in  the  possession  of  anyone  ?  Our  teachers  are  now 
the  young  people  who  have  been  trained  in  the  Sunday  schools.  There 
was  a  great  difGculty  in  founding  our  Sunday  schools  at  first,  because 
the  Sunday  school  methods  were  not  at  all  understood,  and  wo  had  to 
depend  upon  the  material  wo  had.  Now  our  teachers  are  the  young 
people  who  have  grown  up  in  the  Sunday  schools.  Just  think  a  little, 
a  thousand  young  men  and  young  women  consecrated  to  this  work, 
without  pay,  as  in  England  and  America.  They  are  giving  themselves 
to  the  work  of  God  in  the  Sunday  schools.  I  could  quote  from  their 
letters  many  expressions  of  the  love  they  have  in  their  hearts  and  of 
the  enjoyment  they  have  in  doing  this  work  for  God. 

Many  a  beautiful  or  touching  anecdote  I  could  tell  of  the  conversion 
of  the  children  in  these  Sunday  schools.  Not  long  ago,  in  one  of  the 
homes  away  down  in  Italy,  a  little  girl  lay  dying.  -.She  had  under  her 
head  a  New  Testament,  opened  where  her  finger  was  resting  upon  the 
precious  Word  of  God.  Her  aunt,  a  bigoted  Koman  Catholic,  tried  to 
take  the  Testament  from  her,  and  said,  "  That  is  an  excommunicated 
book."  But  the  little  girl  said,  "  Dear  aunt,  take  it  and  read  tliis 
passage  to  me;"  and  the  aunt  took  it,  and  read  it:  "Let  not  your 
heart  be  troubled,  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me,"  and  so  forth. 
And  when  she  had  read  it,  it  was  replaced  under  the  little  child,  and 
she  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  Her  aunt  wanted  the  New  Testament  as  a 
precious  treasure,  and  she  went  and  took  her  place  in  the  church 
where  the  child  had  sat,  and  gave  her  heart  to  God.  We  are  having 
these  conversions,  these  blessed  experiences,  throughout  Italy. 

Wo  have  now  a  secretary,  and  I  believe  God  has  directed  the  minds 
of  those  good  friends,  and  of  the  committee  in  Italy,  in  the  selection  of 
the  right  man— a  man  full  of  faith,  full  of  zeal,  full  of  energy— a  man 
who  wants  to  give  himself  to  the  work.  But  we  have  our  needs  too. 
I  want  to  speak  of  these.  We  have  no  literature,  no  libraries.  We 
want  libraries,  we  want  picture-cards,  we  want  maps.  You  find  it 
difiScult  to  carry  on  your  work  in  England  and  the  United  States; 
but  just  imagine  our  difficulties  where  the  nuns  run  after  the  children 
just  as  Boon  as  they  know  they  come  to  our  schools ;  where  the  priests 
threaten;  where  the  father  is  turned  off  from  his  employment,  or 
perhaps  they  are  turned  out  of  their  house  because  the  children  go  to 
the  Sunday  school ;  where  they  are  giving  food  and  shoes  and  clothing 
in  order  to  keep  the  children  from  us.  Well,  then  we  need  also  some 
means  to  help  us  in  our  work.  And  as  they  have  pleaded  for  India, 
I  plead  for  Italy,  that  centre  of  history,  that  centre  of  that  system 
that  is  insinuating  itself  into  the  United  States  and  into  England. 
Somehow  I  feel  that  the  destiny  of  Christianity  is  yet  linked  with 
Rome.  Help  us,  and  we  will  do  our  best  to  evangelise  the  children, 
to  save  the  children  of  that  historic  land,  bringing  them  all  as  lambs 
to  the  fold  of  our  blessed  Lord. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  73 

The  President  :  Now  we  will  join  in  singing  the  hymn  "  Praise 
Him,  praise  Him ; "  and  may  I  ask,  in  order  that  we  may  make  that 
hymn  a  very  hymn  of  praise,  that  the  word  "  our,"  in  "  our  blessed 
Redeemer,"  should  bo  in  our  hearts  when  praising.  Praise  Him, 
praise  Him,  Jesus,  our  blessed  Redeemer. 

The  hymn  "  Praise  Him,  praise  Him,"  having  been  sung,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Potts  brought  the  session  to  a  close  by  pronouncing  the 
Benediction. 


74  World's  Third 


FIEST   DAY.— THIED   SESSION. 

Tuesday  Evening,  July  12th. 
THE  WOEK  EEPOETED. 

The  third  session  was  held  in  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  July  12tli,  at 
the  City  Temple,  Mr.  Albert  Spicer,  M.P.,  taking  tlie  chair. 

After  the  song  service  the  hymn,  "  Jesus  shall  reign  Avhere'er  the 
Bun,"  was  sung,  and  the  Eev.  J.  Alford  Davies,  B.A.,  B.D.,  led  the 
meeting  in  prayer. 

The  Chairman  said  :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — In  presiding  over  this 
Conference  this  evening  of  the  World's  Third  Sunday  School  Convention, 
may  I,  in  the  first  place,  express  my  acknowledgment  to  the  Council 
of  the  Sunday  School  Union  for  permitting  me  to  take  a  very  small 
jiart  in  this  important  gathering.  Though  I  do  not  at  the  present 
moment  hold  any  oflicial  connection  with  the  Sunday  School  Union,  I 
cannot  forget  that  I  have  gone  through  all  the  posts  of  Sunday  school 
service  that  could  be  offered  to  any  one,  and  I  happen  to  have  been 
one  of  ii  family  of  ten,  all  of  wliom,  both  brothers  and  sisters,  have 
been  Sunday  school  teachers  (applause).  And  in  this  International 
gathering  I  do  not  know  that  I  should  liavo  mentioned  this  fact  had  I 
not  been  asked  to  do  so  only  a  few  minutes  ago.  But  I  commenced  my 
Sunday  school  work,  not  in  this  country,  but  as  a  student  at  a  German 
university,  and  my  first  class  was  a  class  of  little  German  boys.  And 
1  shall  never  forget  that  I  learned  my  first  lesson  in  Sunday  school 
teaching  at  the  hands  of  tliose  boys.  I  had  not  been  mixing,  in  my 
sojourn  in  that  country,  with  family  life,  and,  therefore,  had  not  grown 
accustomed  to  the  use  of  the  second  person,  and  I  found  myself 
addressing  children  in  the  ordinary  society  term  of  the  third  person. 
Much  to  my  surprise  I  saw  my  class  rather  smiling,  and  I  wondered 
whether  it  was  at  the  quality  of  my  knowledge  of  the  German  lan- 
guage. But,  on  asking  one  of  the  boys,  he  said,  "  No,  sir,  what  we 
are  laughing  at  is  that  you  are  talking  to  us  as  if  we  were  grown  up 
people."     I  have  always  tried  to  recollect  that  lesson  since. 

Now,  we  are  here  to-night  to  receive  reports  of  Sunday  school  work 
tJiat  is  being  carried  on  not  only  in  the  United  States  of  America  but 
in  Canada,  amongst  the  coloured  races  of  the  Southern  States,  and  in 
our  own  country.  And  I  am  sure  I  can  congratulate  this  meeting  upon 
the  choice  of  speakers.  We  are  only  sorry,  and  we  arc  all  sorry,  that 
Mr.  Jacobs  is  not  able  to  be  present ;  but  I  am  glad  that  though  he 


Sunday  School  Convention.  75 

will  not  be  jiresent  in  person,  we  are  to  have  the  benefit  of  his  thoughts 
and  of  his  studies. 

Now,  I  am  not  going  in  any  way  to  anticipate  what  the  speakers 
are  going  to  tell  us,  and  I  am  not  going  to  stand  for  many  minutes 
between  you  and  those  gentlemen,  But  I  want  just  to  try  and  leave 
two  thoughts  upon  your  mind^,  which,  I  confess,  have  impressed  them- 
selves very  much  upon  me  during  the  last  few  days.  The  first  one, 
and  I  trust  tliey  may  be  thoughts  that  may  be  helpful  to  you,  and  I 
certainly  do  not  think  they  will  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  subjects 
of  the  evening. 

The  first  came  in  the  natural  order  of  preparing  an  International 
lesson  for  my  own  children's  class.  And  I  am  sure  I  need  not  remind 
anyone  in  this  audience  of  the  first  lesson  of  the  present  quarter,  and 
of  that  remarkable  scene  when  Eehoboam  chose,  before  giving  his 
answer  to  the  deputation,  to  consult,  first,  the  old  men  and  afterwards 
the  younger  ones.  When  he  consulted  Iho  old  men  as  to  what  his 
rule  should  be  they  did  not  say  a  single  word  about  ruling.  All  they 
referred  to  was  the  question  of  service.  But,  when  he  came  to  the 
younger  men,  they  left  the  question  of  service  alone,  and  all  that  they 
dealt  with  was  the  question  of  ruling.  Now  it  seems  to  me  that  in  our 
Sunday  school  work  we  need  1o  be  always  remembering  the  service 
that  we  are  called  upon  to  perform,  and  in  this  conference  I  am  quite 
sure  it  will  not  be  a  question  so  much  of  learning  how  to  rule  our 
schools,  our  teachers,  our  classes,  but  it  will  be  a  question  whether  in 
conference  with  one  another  we  can  learn  how  best  to  serve  our  classes, 
our  teachers,  and  our  schools.  The  other  thought  is  present,  we  are 
going  to  serve  the  person  or  the  persons. 

It  is  not  often,  and  I  do  not  think  it  is  usual  for  people  to  imagine 
that  Government  Blue  Books  are  interesting  to  the  general  reader. 
But  I  confess  that  in  my  short  experience  in  connection  with  Blue 
Books  I  have  often  found  them  much  more  interesting  than  I  had  any 
idea  of  before  I  was  called  upon  in  one's  regular  work  to  study  Blue 
Books.  May  I  read  to  you  one  sentence  from  a  report  which  has 
recently  been  issued  by  one  of  Her  Majesty's  chief  inspectors  for  edu- 
cation. Mr.  Edward  Eanken,  in  closing  his  report,  makes  use  of  this 
eentence  :  "  There  is  one  subject  which  I  must  allude  to  before  con- 
cluding. The  standpoint  froui  which  educatiou  is  regarded  has 
changed  completely  of  late  years.  The  centre  of  our  educational 
system  is  no  longer  the  State  Department,  the  instructor,  or  the 
teacher.  It  is  the  child.  We  are  beginning  to  study  the  child,  and 
to  acknowledge  that  he  is  master  of  the  situation.  Instead  of  making 
education  conform  to  the  views  of  the  educator  we  are  endeavouring 
to  make  the  educator  conform  his  views  to  the  nature  and  capabilities 
of  the  child.  We  are  trying  to  study  the  child  to  find  out  what  he 
really  is,  to  do  our  best  for  him.  He  is  treated  as  a  living  organism 
that  allows  of  growth  peculiar  to  himself,  which  must  be  known  and 
followed  before  the  perfecting  of  the  growth  can  be  attained.  He  is 
no  longer  treated  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  to  be  moulded  into 


76  World's  Third 

any  shape  we  wish.  Tlie  most  powerful  signs  of  the  times  educa- 
tionally arc  the  scicntiflc  interest  taken  in  their  work  by  the  tutors, 
and  the  lofty  anxiety  for  the  welfare  of  the  children  shown  Ly  all 
classes  in  it."  I  am  (juito  sure  that  we  as  Sunday  school  teachers, 
that  what  ]\Ir.  Kanken  says  is  right  with  regard  to  the  children  in 
our  elementary  public  schools,  is  after  all  the  aim  of  every  true  Sunday 
school  teacher. 

We  have  had  a  great  trust  imposed  upon  us.  We  desire  that  thia 
Convention  may  be  made  useful,  that  we  may  be  more  faithful  to  the 
trust  that  has  been  committed  to  us.  These  children,  whom  God  has 
given  to  us,  we  want  to  mould  for  Him.  We  want  to  lead  them  to  His 
feet.  We  want  to  train  them  for  His  service,  and  in  serving  them  serve 
our  Master  who  is  in  heaven. 

I  trust  that  on  this  Conference  and  on  all  the  Conferences  this  week 
may  fall  a  blessing  because  of  the  Master's  presence,  and  that  at  the 
close  we  and  you  may  go  back  to  the  different  parts  of  the  world  from 
which  you  have  come,  the  stronger  and  the  better  for  these  gatherings, 
and  the  better  united  to  carry  on  our  Master's  service.  Mr.  McCrillis, 
who  was  to  have  read  Mr.  Jaco]«'  paper,  does  not  seem  to  be  present, 
so  I  will  ask  the  Kev.  Aquila  Lucas,  of  New  Brunswick,  Canada,  to 
address  you. 

Canada. 

By  the  Rev.  Aquila  Lucas  {New  Brunswick,  Canada). 

Mr.  President,  Christian  friends, — It  is  not  often  that  in  assemblies 
in  Great  Britain  Canada  comes  before  the  United  States.  In  the 
present  instance  it  is  only  by  accident.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  the 
first  position  in  this  our  country  is  due  to  our  beloved  friends  in  the 
United  States,  because  they  are  guests  more  than  the  Canadians  are. 
There  is  another  sense,  perhaps,  in  which  you  might  think  Canadians, 
or  Canada  rather,  should  come  first,  because  she  is  one  of  your  own 
family.  I  esteem  it  a  high  privilege  to  report  in  any  degree  the 
Sunday  school  work  of  so  magnificent  a  nation  as  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.  It  is  the  greatest  colony  of  this  our  beloved  Britain,  and  it 
is  as  loyal  to  the  Home  Government  as  any  one  of  the  members  of 
the  large  family  of  colonies  under  British  rule.  Were  it  not  that  our 
Sovereign  Queen  was  so  aged  I  should  indulge  the  hope  that  she 
would  soon  accept  an  invitation  to  that  great  colony,  and  yet  I  know 
that  were  she  to  come,  our  beloved  sister  just  across  the  lines  would 
only  let  us  have  her  at  least  half  her  time  (applause).  If  you  knew 
the  people  of  tlie  United  States  as  well  as  we  in  Canada  do  you 
could  well  understand  what  coaxing  and  pressure  there  would  be 
that  she  might  visit  that  daughter  that  went  out  more  than  a  century 
ago  to  set  up  independent  housekeeping  of  her  own.  And  then  were 
it  possible  that  she  could  visit  that  great  sister  land  thire  would  be 
put  the  final  seal  upon  that  growing  unity  between  that  great  people 
and  ourselves  (applause).  We  are  scarcely  two  people  in  that  great 
country,  at  least  on  Sunday  school  lines.     We  in  Canada  fully  under- 


Sunday  School  Convention.  11 

stand  that  that  beloved  sister  went  out  from  the  liome  when  father 
was  severe  in  his  government,  and  mother  love  did  not  influeiice  the 
home  household  as  much  as  it  docs  to-day  (laughter).  In  this  great 
international  work  you  of  Great  Britain  cannot  understand  as  wo  do 
the  kinship  and  interests  along  the  line  linking  the  entire  continent 
together. 

Canada  consists  of  a  chain  of  seven  great  provinces.  I  scarcely 
know  of  what  the  Canadian  is  most  justly  proud.  They  reach  from 
tlie  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  coast,  beginning  in  Nova  Scotia  and  taking 
in  our  little  Prince  Edward  Island,  whoso  representatives  sit  here 
before  me,  and  through  the  province  from  which  it  is  my  gladness  to 
come,  that  of  New  Brunswick,  reaching  out  to  Quebec  west  of  us  and 
going  beyond  Quebec  to  that  yet  greater  province  of  Ontario,  and 
west  of  it  going  day  and  night  in  railway  travel  across  that  great 
and  fruitful  province  of  Manitoba.  Then  next  we  come  to  the  two 
great  territories  of  Assiniboia  and  Saskatchewan,  not  yet  organised 
into  provinces,  and  yet  they  are  organised  into  Sunday  school  associa- 
tions, and  reaching  beyond  them  to  the  provinces  of  British  Columbia, 
one,  each,  and  all  strengthened,  combined  together  with  a  strong 
organisation  for  furtherance  of  Sunday  school  work.  This  Canada  is 
3500  miles  from  cast  to  west,  and  1400  miles  from  north  to  south, 
containing  127,000  square  miles  more  than  is  under  the  rule  repre- 
sented by  the  stars  and  stripes  of  the  United  States.  I  know  that  you 
of  beloved  England — my  own  native  land — by  the  way,  I  know  that 
you  can  scarcely  take  in  that,  or  the  conception,  when  I  say  to  you  that 
that  land  of  ours  is  seventy  times  larger  than  Scotland  and  England 
and  Wales  put  together,  and  nearly  as  large  as  the  whole  continent 
of  Europe.  Wc  heard  this  afternoon  of  India.  It  is  a  land  of  many 
millions  of  souls.  We  are  all  interested  in  its  moral  and  spiritual 
welfare,  and  more  so  since  wo  listened  to  our  beloved  Dr.  Phillips, 
now  of  revered  memory,  as  he  pleaded  for  India  before  that  audience 
of  8000  people  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  But  out  of  Canadian  territory 
you  might  carve  three  areas  as  large  as  India  and  still  have  enough  left 
to  form  some  large  portion  of  tlio  world  which  we  call  Australia. 
During  the  celebrations  of  Her  Majesty's  jubilee  in  this  land  of  yours, 
you  heard  much  of  this  great  country  of  which  I  am  speaking  and  its 
political,  commercial,  and  other  conditions.  You  deservedly  gave  it 
prominence,  and  our  leaders  and  all  of  us  who  stayed  at  home  thanked 
you  in  heart,  even  if  we  could  not  make  you  hear  our  words. 

But  although  to-day  we  have  come  with  less  heraldry  and  pomp, 
we  come  to  represent  what  alone  can  give  force  and  purpose  to  true 
national  or  political  government.  We  speak  to-day  of  the  righteous- 
ness which  cxalteth  a  nation.  Along  the  streets  of  the  cities  of  our 
beloved  Canada  may  be  seen  myriads  of  wires,  I  was  going  to  say 
overheail,  whilst  there  are  many  under  foot.  Many  of  these  are 
encased  in  material,  scientifically  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  work- 
ing them.  Within  that  encasement  there  is  something  which  the  eye 
does  not  behold.    When  Canada  sent  its  political  representatives  to 


78  World's  TJtird 

you,  you  saw  the  outward  casement  of  our  political  conditions,  and  wo 
were  glad  that  you  did.  To-day  we  come  to  represent  that  which  is 
felt  more  than  seen  by  mortal  eye.  We  come  to  represent  that  current 
illustrated  by  that  which  runs  inside  the  casement  of  the  wires  thus 
bound  together,  and  wliich  conveys  to  all  our  great  manufacturing 
and  other  establishments  the  trinity  of  light  and  of  heat  and  of 
power,  and  so  wo  are  here  from  Canada  to-day  to  represent  the  light 
of  the  written  Word  of  God,  the  warmth  of  divine  love,  and  the  power 
of  tlio  Holy  Spirit  of  God  to  make  the  teaching  of  that  Word  effeetivo 
in  the  classes  of  our  Sunday  schools. 

Wo  are  encouraged  along  this  line  more  when  wo  remember  that 
the  application  of  these  divine  blessings  iu  our  work  is  to  childhood 
aud  to  youth,  thereby  ensuring  a  greater  future  for  our  country  than 
we  have  to-day.  I  know  that  some  of  you  may  tell  us  thi\t  our  popu- 
lation is  comparatively  small,  and  I  admit  that  it  is  only  between  livo 
and  six  millions  of  precious  souls.  But  the  fruitfulness  of  our  soil, 
the  richness  of  our  mineral  deposits,  and  the  value  of  other  vast 
natural  resources  in  the  country,  only  await  the  coming  of  the  greater 
millions  who  certainly  will  come  to  us. 

Close  by  my  door,  or  within  a  few  steps  from  it,  there  runs  that  rail- 
way from  Halifax  on  the  east,  to  Vancouver  on  the  west,  a  railway  of 
4000  miles  in  length.  It  is  your  high  road  to  Japan  aud  to  China,  as 
many  of  you  know  to-day,  and  a  very  important  link  in  that  chain  of  sea 
and  laud  by  which  probably  you  will  come  to  the  east  in  future.  But 
every  spring,  and  sometimes  at  otlier  seasons,  there  come  heavily 
laden  trains  carrying  thousands  of  precious  souls  as  emigrants  from 
this  continent  of  Europe  to  the  great  untilled  and  uncultivated 
prairies  of  the  west.  But  these  are  simply  the  vanguards  of  tho 
greater  hosts  of  the  people  that  will  come  iu  tho  future.  Wo  hear 
the  tread  of  the  coming  host,  aud  our  Sunday  school  work  is  not 
simply  to  build  foundations  for  those  who  are  there  to-day,  but  for 
those  who  are  coming  iu  the  future.  In  the  future  generations  those 
emigrants  or  their  oftspring  will  uoither  bo  Russians,  nor  Germans, 
nor  Scandinavians,  nor  any  other  named  country  from  which  their 
fathers  came,  but  they  will  be  Canadians,  and  they  will  be  worth 
more  to  us,  and  to  the  State  in  proportion  to  the  aggressive  Suuday 
school  work  which  is  carried  on.  And  so  this  organised  Sunday 
school  work  of  Canada  from  the  east  to  the  extreme  west  is  being 
done  by  the  help  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  obedience  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Word,  aud  with  a  full  faith  in  tho  certainty  of  tho 
greatness  of  that  land  in  the  future. 

Now,  in  this  field  we  emphasise  organisation.  We  do  not  lose  sight 
of  individuals — not  at  all.  From  this  divinely  given  book  we  learn 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  made  a  wise  selection  of  individuals.  But 
then  He  bound  them  together  by  organisation  and  sent  out  these 
organised  men  under  His  own  direction.  If  you  were  to  go  into  our 
Executive  Committees,  as  some  of  you  of  course  go  into  the  Executive 
Committee  of  your  own  great  Sunday  School  Union  of  this  land,  you 


Sunday  School  Convention.  79 

would  see  as  you  would  seo  in  those  of  this  laud,  and  thoy  by  no 
means  lose  siglit  of  individuals.  And  yet  they  do  specially  organise 
in  each  of  these  provinces,  they  specially  emphasise  organisation. 
Wo  believe  that  the  strand  is  good,  but  that  a  rope  is  very  much 
stronger.  Hence  each  of  these  seven  provinces  is  organised  into  pro- 
vincial Sunday  school  organisations.  Each  has  an  eflScient  Executive 
Committee,  composed  of  ministers  and  laymen,  leaders  of  tlieir  several 
denominations.  The  Executive  Committees  do  not  meet  by  accident, 
they  meet  at  stated  quarterly  and  some  of  them  at  stated  monthly 
periods,  and  the  men  composing  them  give  as  much  attention  in  these 
Exftcutive  Committee  meetings  to  the  work  of  increasing  the  efficiency 
of  the  Sunday  schools  of  the  provinces  as  they  give  when  they  are  in 
their  business  oificcs  or  in  their  studies  preparing  for  the  work  of  their 
ministry.  ^ 

I  have  told  you  that  not  only  are  the  provinces  organised,  but  each 
of  the  two  territories  is  also  organised  into  a  separate  Sunday  school 
organisation,  and  though  these  are  the  babes,  they  are  by  no  means 
the  babes  or  the  youngest  members  of  that  great  family  of  International 
Sunday  school  workers  which  stretches  across  the  Continent.  The 
provinces  of  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  Quebec,  Ontario,  and 
Manitoba,  eacli  of  them  have  a  general  or  field  secretary,  who  devotes 
his  whole  time  to  this  work  in  his  own  province.  Some  of  these  in 
addition  to  the  secretary  have  a  l»dy  worker,  called  a  primary  secre- 
tary, engaged  for  tlie  whole  or  part  of  the  year,  and  she  gives  special 
attention  to  the  primary  teachers  and  everything  in  connection  with 
the  better  education  for  the  primary  department.  In  other  words,  we 
believe  that  you  must  lay  the  foundation  well  if  the  body  is  going  to 
rise  to  grand  and  good  proportions. 

Not  only  are  the  provinces  organised,  but  the  provincial  associations 
take  care  of  the  organisation  of  each  county  into  a  county  associa- 
tion. The  province  holds  one  great  annual  convention,  and  let  me 
say  that  in  each  of  these  provinces  there  is  not  a  more  educative  or  a 
meeting  of  greater  spiritual  force  than  tho  annual  meeting  of  the 
Sunday  School  Association  of  each  province.  I  think  the  bell  rings, 
indicating  that  my  time  is  gone.  Tlie  country  is  large,  the  subject  is 
larger.     Time  is  short,  and  there  are  many  ways  in  which  we  learu  it. 

The  choir  sang  the  chorus  "  To  Thee,  great  Lord  of  all." 

United  States. 

The  Chairman  :  I  have  now  great  pleasure  in  calling  upon  IMr. 
McCrillis  to  read  to  you  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs'  paper. 

Faper  by  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs. 
Eead  by  Mr.  A.  B.  McCrillis  (Rhode  Island). 

After  expressing  regret  that  Mr.  Jacobs  was  not  present  to  read  the 
paper  himself,  Mr.  McCrillis  gave  Mr.  Jacob's  paper. 


80  World's  Third 

THE   REPORT   OF  SUNDAY   SCHOOL   WORK    IN   THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

Dear  Brethren, — In  submitting  for  your  consideration  a  report  of 
the  growth  and  progress  of  Sunday  school  work  in  the  United  States, 
wo  desire,  by  way  of  preface,  to  mention  the  loving  kindness  of  the 
Lord;  and  briefly  to  recount  His  gracious  dealing  with  us.  As  we 
recall  the  blessed  meetings  held  in  London  in  1889,  and  in  Saint 
Louis  in  1893 ;  and  the  fellowship  enjoyed,  the  progress  made,  and 
the  difficulties  overcome ;  let  us  look  up,  that  our  brows  may  be 
touched  with  the  light  of  His  presence,  and  our  hearts  may  overflow 
with  His  love,  as  we  hero  and  now  plan  to  carry  forward  the  work 
so  well  begun,  for  "  the  place  and  position  we  occupied  is  consecrated 
by  the  service  and  sacrifice  of  those  who  have  gone  before." 

Those  who  Have  Fallen  Asleep. 

We  do  well  to  paiise  a  moment  and  mention  the  names  of  some  who 
have  been  with  us  in  the  former  Conventions,  whose  places  are  now 
vacant  or  filled  by  others.    It  is  a  list  of  illustrious  names. 

From  England. 

Mr.  Fountain  J.  llartley,  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Sunday 
School  Union,  and  corresponding  member  of  the  International  Lesson 
Committee  ;  Mr.  J.  E.  Tresidder,  and  Mr.  W.  II.  Millar,  Honorary 
Secretaries  of  the  Sunday  School  Union ;  Mr.  Benjamin  Clarke,  and 
Bev.  H.  8.  B.  Yates,  Editors  of  the  Sunday  School  Chronicle ;  and  one 
who  welcomed  us  in  our  former  visit,  and  though  not  specially  a 
Sunday  school  worker,  was  and  is  too  greatly  beloved  in  all  lands  to 
be  omitted,  Bev.  Charles  Iladdon  Spiirgeon. 

From  France. 
Our  beloved  brother  and  co-labourer,  Bev.  B.  W.  3IcAU,  D.  D. 

From  India. 
Dr.  J.  L.  Bhillip?,  our  first  foreign  Sunday  school  missionary. 

From  the  United  States. 

Bev.  John  A.  Broadiis,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  member  of  the  Losson  Com- 
mittee ;  Hon.  Franhlin  Fairhanhs,  and  Mr.  Alexander  G.  Tyng,  former 
members  of  the  Lesson  Committee ;  Mr.  William  Beynolds,  Field 
Superintendent  of  International  Sunday  School  work ;  Mr.  L.  F. 
Lindsay,  Musical  Director  of  the  St.  Louis  Convention ;  and  Frances 
E.  Willard,  one  whose  jjraise  is  in  all  the  churches  and  whose  fame  is 
world-wide. 

As  we  think  of  these,  who  being  absent  are  yet  present  with  us,  let 
us  thank  God  that  they  lived  and  loved  and  laboured  with  us,  and  by 
their  life  and  work  have  influenced  others.  "  The  great  need  of  the 
world  in  every  age  is  heaven-filled  and  heaven-sent  men."  "  No  power 


Sunday  School  Convention.  81 

can  withstand  the  life  that  is  truly  lived  for  Jeans'  sake,"  and  every 
human  life  affects  the  stream  of  human  history. 

The  Progress  of  Sunday  School  Work  in  the  United  States  may  be 
estimated  as  follows : — 

1.  By  the  growth  in  memhership. — At  the  London  Convention,  in 
1889,  we  reported  101,824  Sunday  schools;  1,100,104:  officers  and 
teachers ;  8,345,431  scholars.  Total  membership,  9,445,535.  At  the 
Saint  Louis  Convention,  in  1893,  the  report  was:  schools,  123,173; 
1,305,939  officers  and  teachers  ;  9,718,432  scholars ;  a  total  membership 
of  11,024,371.  It  may  be  assumed  that  the  great  increase  reported 
between  1889  and  1893  is  in  part  accounted  for  by  corrected  reports 
received  from  many  sources.  At  the  International  (American)  Con- 
vention in  1896,  the  report  was  132,697  schools  ;  1,394,630  officers  and 
teachers ;  10,893,523  scholars ;  a  total  membership,  12,288,153 ;  the 
gain  for  the  three  years  being  9524  schools;  18,691  officers  and 
teachers;  1,175,091  scholars;  a  total  gain  of  1,263,782  members,  or  an 
average  of  8^^  schools  and  1150  members  for  each  day.  The 
growth  since  the  Boston  Convention  is  in  about  the  same  ratio. 

2.  By  the  im'provement  in  organisation. — This  work  has  progressed 
favourably,  and  is  steadily  gaining  and  growing  in  favour.  By 
organisation  we  mean  securing  the  co-operation  of  Evangelical  denomi- 
nations under  competent  leadership,  with  a  plan  that  embraces  all 
parts  of  the  field.  In  America  we  have  what  is  called  the  International 
Organisation,  which  holds  a  convention  every  three  years.  To  this 
convention  delegates  are  sent  from  45  States,  5  territories,  and  the 
district  of  Columbia,  all  of  the  United  States.  Also  from  6  provinces, 
4  territories,  and  Newfoundland,  all  of  Canada.  Also  from  the 
Republic  of  Mexico.  We  hope  in  time  to  include  the  divisions  of 
Central  America,  Cuba  and  other  West  India  islands,  Hawaii,  and 
possibly  Labrador  and  Greenland.  The  object  of  the  International 
Convention  is  to  survey  the  whole  field,  and  plan  for  its  cultivation. 
This  work  is  conducted  by  an  executive  committee,  consisting  of  one 
member  from  each^of  the  States,  provinces,  territories,  or  other  divisions 
of  the  countries  included  in  the  organisation.  The  first  work  is  to 
secure  a  separate  organisation  in  each  of  the  States,  provinces,  or 
territories.  These  are  independent,  and  their  co-operation  is  voluntary. 
Each  of  these  hold  a  convention,  nearly  all  are  annual,  one  is  semi- 
annual, aud  one  is  triennial.  In  these  conventions  the  field  of  a 
State  or  province  is  studied,  and  a  plan  is  formed  to  cultivate  that 
field  under  the  supervision  of  a  State  or  provincial  executive  committee. 
This  committee  is  to  secure  the  organisation  of  the  counties  or  parishes 
into  which  that  State  or  province  is  divided.  In  like  manner  annual 
or  semi-annual  county  conventions  are  organised,  and  in  like  manner 
the  towns  or  sub-divisions  of  the  counties  or  parishes  are  organised 
The  object  of  the  Bub-organisations  is  to  secure  the  thorough  cultivation 
of  the  whole  field.  For  example :  In  one  State  there  are  102  counties^, 
and  these  are  sub-divided  into  1569  townships  (these  are  usually 
about  six  miles  square).    In  that  State  every  county  has  a  separate 


82  World's  Third 

Sunday  school  organisation,  ami  1409  of  the  1569  townships  have 
aeparato  organisations.  (It  is  sometimes  necessary  for  geographical 
reasons  to  unite  two  townships  in  one  organisation.)  During  the 
year  ending  May  15,  1898,  in  that  State  there  were  held  102  county 
and  1511  township  conventions;  1613  in  all.  This  is  but  a  partial 
view.  The  whole  number  of  conventions  held  in  the  United  States  is 
many  thousands.  The  work  of  organisation  includes  many  things : 
(rt.)  The  work  of  co-operative,  voluntary  supervision — not  control  or 
interference.  This  is  specially  to  aid  weak  schools  and  to  establish 
now  schools  when  and  where  it  is  found  necessary,  {h.)  Holding 
normal  Sunday  school  institutes  in  counties  and  townships,  under  tho 
direction  of  competent  leaders,  for  instruction  in  the  principles  and 
method  of  teaching  and  study.  In  the  State  mentioned  135  such 
institutes  were  held  during  the  year.  Through  these  to  promote  the 
formation  of  normal  classes,  in  schools,  or  communities,  to  take  a 
regular  course  extending  over  two  years.  In  the  State  mentioned 
about  100  classes  are  formed  each  year,  and  those  who  complete  the 
course  are  graduated  at  the  State  Convention  and  receive  diplomas. 
In  that  State  the  normal  alumni  now  number  1800.  (c.)  The 
organisation  in  cities  and  larger  towns  of  superintendents  or  officers, 
associations  or  unions,  meetings  to  be  held  monthly  for  the  considera- 
tion and  discussion  of  the  best  plans  for  management,  grading,  methods 
of  teaching  and  study  in  the  Sunday  school,  (d.)  The  organisation  in 
cities  and  larger  towns  of  primary  teachers'  unions,  and  the  appoint- 
ment in  each  county,  as  far  as  advisable,  of  a  superintendent  or  secre- 
tary of  primary  Sunday  school  work,  to  visit  schools,  conduct  teachers' 
meetings,  attend  institutes,  conventions,  and  to  correspond  with 
primary  teachers,  (e.)  Organisation  of  home  classes  or  home  depart- 
ments in  connection  with  each  school  (as  far  as  possible)  of  those  who 
cannot  regularly  attend  the  sessions  of  the  school.  In  the  States 
mentioned  there  are  now  450  such  classes  with  14,000  scholars. 
(/.)  The  work  of  house-to-house  visitation,  especially  in  cities  and 
large  towns,  but  also  in  the  country.  These  various  departments  will 
each  receive  special  attention  at  this  Convention. 

In  general  the  work  of  organisation  may  be  classed  good  in  thirty- 
six  States  and  provinces ;  as  medium  or  fair  in  seventeen  States  and 
provinces  and  territories ;  and  as  poor  in  nine.  In  some  of  the  stronger 
States  and  provinces  persons  are  employed  (called  field  workers)  aa 
general  secretaries  and  instructors  to  assist  in  county  and  township 
conventions  and  institutes.  The  total  number  of  such  workers  is  now 
fifty-eight.  These  are  organised  into  "  The  Field  Workers  Depart- 
ment," and  hold  an  annual  meeting  for  conferences  and  mutual 
improvement.  The  "  International  Primary  Union  "  is  also  a  depart- 
ment of  the  whole.  There  are  now  250  such  unions,  and  the  number 
is  rapidly  increusing.  In  connection  with  this  union  there  are  now 
three  "  Summer  Schools  for  Primary  Teachers  "  :  one  in  New  Jersey, 
on  the  Atlantic ;  one  in  Chicago,  on  the  Lakes ;  and  one  in  Maine, 
for  Canada  and  New  England. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  83 

(g.)  Many  cities  now  have  union  teachers'  meetings,  held  weekly, 
conducted  by  able  leaders  and  attended  by  hundreds  of  teachers. 
(h.)  Great  musical  festivals  are  held  in  several  cities,  (i.)  Rally 
days  are  numerous,  and  in  some  instances  the  enthusiasm  reaches  the 
whole  county.  (_;".)  At  many  great  assemblies,  like  Chautauqua,  a 
department  of  Sunday  work  is  maintained — these  are  multiplying. 

The  American  Sunday  School  Union  is  actively  engaged,  employing 
many  workers  in  the  newer  States  and  in  the  territories,  in  organising 
new  schools,  and  aiding  those  already  existing.  All  the  larger 
denominations  are  extending  and  improving  their  Sunday  school 
work,  employing  hundreds  of  workers,  organising  new  schools,  helping 
old  ones,  holding  conventions,  institutes,  and  conferences,  and  one 
denomination  baa  four  railroad-cars  used  to  organise  scliools  in  the 
newer  portions  of  the  country. 

Training  Schools. — There  is  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  a  Bible 
Normal  College  specially  to  teach  and  train  Sunday  school  workers, 
and  at  the  Northfield  and  Chicago  schools,  of  which  Mr.  Moody  is 
president,  and  at  the  Baptist  and  Methodist  training  schools  for 
Christian  workers,  both  at  Chicago,  special  attention  is  given  to 
Sunday  school  work  ;  and  this  is  also  true  of  all  the  great  missionary 
organisations,  of  all  the  national  and  State  organisations  of  Christian 
young  people,  and  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  Theo- 
logical seminaries  and  academies  are  giving  prominence  to  Sunday 
school  work. 

3.  By  improved  Sunday  scliools, — The  improvement  in  the  schools 
is  evidenced  by  better  buildings,  many  erected  for  the  purpose,  with 
suitable  rooms  for  departments  and  large  classes.  Better  light  and 
air,  better  furnishings,  and  suitable  appliances.  Better  officers  and 
teachers,  selected  with  more  care,  some  salaried,  many  specially 
trained.  More  graded  schools,  with  teachers'  meetings  and  normal 
classes,  some  where  supplemental  work  is  done  and  written  examina- 
tions conducted.  The  Loyal  Sunday  School  Army  plan  for  securing 
punctuality  and  better  study,  and  a  roll  of  honour  with  certificates 
quarterly  and  annually.  Improvement  in  singing,  many  special 
training  classes  in  music.  More  intelligent  and  systematic  giving. 
Correspondence  with  missionaries,  and  discussion  of  plans.  Better 
temperance  work,  with  suitable  instruction,  and  an  eifort  to  teach  the 
children  true  temperance  and  purity.  Decided  improvements  in 
libraries,  better  books  more  carefully  selected,  covering  a  wider  range, 
better  methods  of  distribution,  some  special  libraries  for  teachers  and 
for  primary  scholars.  The  use  of  the  Bible  in  the  schoolroom  in  place 
of  lesson  quarterlies  and  magazines.  Better  system  of  visitation, 
looking  after  absentees,  letters  of  dismission,  making  acquaintance  of 
parents,  methods  for  mothers,  vacation  lesson  slips,  birthday  letters, 
cradle  rolls,  &c.  More  co-operation  from  the  church,  church  appro- 
priations, special  days  for  united  service,  children's  day,  anniversaries, 
and  patriotic  days. 

4.  In  the  value  of  voluntariness.— There  are  1,500,000  officers  and 

G  2 


84  World's  Third 

teachers  who  give  time  and  thought  to  the  work.  A  low  CBtimato  in 
money  would  bo  ouo  dollar  per  week  for  each,  or  about  75,000,000 
dollars  per  aimum ;  but  much  more  than  money  is  the  power  of  love 
and  symjiathy ;  the  true  teacher  gives  himself,  this  is  known  ami 
appreciated  by  scliolars.  Without  undervaluing  other  work,  where 
can  wo  find  a  parallel  ? 

5.  Jw  improved  publications. — Tiie  improvement  in  Bibles  is  very 
great,  and  it  is  acknowledged  that  the  Sunday  school  is  largely 
responsible  for  it.  The  British  and  American  Bible  Societies  publish 
millions  of  copies  annually,  and  the  number  of  societies  and  publishers 
who  also  publish  Bibles  is  large.  One  private  publishing  company 
sold  750,000  copies  of  a  high-priced  Bible  in  one  year.  Helps  for 
teachers  are  constantly  increasing  and  improving.  Many  bound 
volumes  by  great  writers,  specially  prepared  for  Sunday  school 
teachers,  are  Issued  annually.  These  cover  the  latest  and  best  ex- 
plorations and  investigations.  All  the  denominations  and  many 
private  publishers  expend  large  sums  to  provide  the  best  helps. 
Teachers'  magazines,  quarterlies  in  four  grades  for  scholars,  the  work 
of  qualified  writers,  printed  in  modern  style  on  good  paper  with 
excellent  illustrations.  The  papers  for  children  and  young  people  are 
of  the  highest  grade,  and  the  circulation  of  all  these  is  great,  even  in 
these  days  of  wonders.  All  of  the  larger  denominations  issue  a 
million  copies  or  more  each  month,  the  largest  being  about  four  and 
one-half  millions,  wliile  one  private  publisher  in  the  west  issues  nearly 
four  million  copies  per  month,  and  conducts  a  personal  correspondence 
with  1800  individuals,  for  their  benefit  and  at  his  own  expense.  The 
Sunday  School  Times  and  International  Evangel  are  the  equals  of  any. 
secular  papers,  the  writers  being  among  the  foremost  scholars  and 
teachers  in  the  world.  The  illustrated  publications  of  the  Providence 
Company  and  some  other  publishers  are  not  surpassed  by  any  secular 
publications. 

6.  In  the  value  of  men. — While  we  admit  the  value  of  women  as 
teachers,  and  in  some  cases  as  oiTicers,  we  emphasise  the  importance 
and  value  of  men  both  as  officcr3  and  teachers.  As  teaching  is  the 
greatest  of  all  professions,  and  it  must  be  that  men  shall  be  teachers. 
If  men  are  needed  as  teachers  in  universities,  colleges,  academics, 
medical,  legal,  and  scientific  schools,  men  are  needed  to  teach  the 
Word  of  God.  As  the  adult  membersliip  of  our  schools  is  increasing, 
we  need  more  men  of  the  greatest  ability  as  teachers.  Some  of  the 
great  men  of  America  and  England  are  now  engaged  in  Sunday 
school  work,  and  other  men  may  learn  the  value  that  such  service  will 
be  to  themselves  and  to  others  whose  lives  they  may  influence 
for  good. 

7.  In  the  value  of  the  Sunday  school  to  Society  and  to  the  State. — 
Formation  is  better  than  reformation,  and  the  influence  exerted  upon 
the  minds  of  nine  millions  of  children  must  bo  great  indeed.  In  a 
western  city  the  authorities  declared  that  one  mission  Sunday  school 
was  worth  more  to  preserve  peace  and  prevent  crime  in  a  given  dis- 
trict than  the  police.     Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  Sunday  school 


Sunday  School  (contention.  85 

iDBtruction  in  the  families  from  which  the  children  come  ?  Who  can 
calculate  the  influence  of  the  Sunday  school  on  the  teaching  in  the 
public  schools  where  many  Sunday  school  teachers  are  employed? 
Washington's  farewell  address,  to  Americans,  furnishes  his  testimony 
as  to  the  importance  of  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  the  young. 
And  at  a  recent  meeting  of  professional  and  business  men,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  public  men,  speaking  of  the  International  Sunday 
school  work,  said,  "  I  challenge  the  gentlemen  to  mention  any  other 
work  of  equal  importance  to  this  nation."  Some  of  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States,  including  Mr.  McKinley,  the  chief  justice,  and  some 
associate  ju.stices,  generals  and  admirals,  senators  and  congressmen, 
presidents  of  colleges,  and  great  business  men,  have  been  Sunday 
school  teachers.  Compared  with  the  growth  in  population,  with  the 
attendance  on  and  improvement  in  secular  schools,  with  the  gain  in 
church  membership,  with  secular  publications,  the  Sunday  school  has 
kept  pace  with  them  all — in  fact,  Sunday  school  workers  have  kept 
up  with  everything  except  their  own  ideals. 

Teaching  temperance  and  purity. — In  our  eflbrt  to  increase  the 
membership  of  our  Sunday  schools  and  improve  the  work  of  the 
teachers,  we  must  not  forget  that  our  great  work  is  to  aid  in  forming 
the  characters  of  our  scholars.  Frances  E.  Willard,  speaking  to 
mothers,  said :  "  Put  your  wealth  into  the  arteries,  store  it  away  in 
the  brain-cells  and  heart-fibres  of  your  children."  These  words  apply 
with  almost  equal  force  to  Sunday  school  teachers.  Dr.  Sarah 
Hackett  Stevenson  tells  us  that  "  the  childhood  of  this  generation  is 
crying  out,  *  educate  my  mother.'  "  If  transposed  to  read  "  educate 
my  teacher,"  it  will  voice  the  heart  and  life-cry  of  many  children^ 
who  do  not  yet  know  their  great  need,  and  how  to  speak  for  it.  Our 
three  giant  foes  are  Ignorance,  Intemperance,  and  Impurity.  We  are 
active  in  our  opposition  to  ignorance,  and  have  been  half  awakened  to 
see  the  danger  of  intemperance,  but  we  are  for  the  most  part  asleep  as 
to  the  danger  of  impurity.  We  cannot  afford  to  omit  the  temperance 
question,  and  we  urge  upon  the  teachers  of  all  our  Sunday  schools  the 
importance  of  teaching  and  training  our  children  and  youth  to  be 
firm  and  consistent  temperance  men  and  women,  and  to  be  haters  of 
the  abominable  traffic  in  every  form. 

And  now  we  urge  you  to  secure  the  books  and  leaflets  that  will 
make  you  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  monstrous  crime  being  com- 
mitted against  our  children  and  youth,  by  the  introduction  of  immoral 
and  impure  literature,  not  only  advertised  and  sold,  almost  openly 
but  in  many  instances  introduced  into  our  schools  by  persons  who  are, 
secret  agents  and  paid  for  this  work.  And  that  some  wise  plan  be 
found  for  aiding  our  scholars  to  secure  such  knowledge  as  will  be  a 
help  to  them  through  life  and  a  safeguard  in  the  hour  of  temptation. 
We  earnestly  recommend  correspondence  with  the  secretaries  of  the 
Purity  Department  of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
and,  when  necessary,  with  the  chairman  of  the  committees  for  the 
suppression  of  vice  in  the  different  cities. 


86  World's  Third 

The  International  Sunday  School  Lessons. — This  Convention  will  listen 
to  a  report  from  tbo  International  Lesson  Committee  and  duly 
consider  the  recommendations  presented.  The  result  of  the  con- 
ferences and  correspondence  has  been  lo  improve  and  strengthen  the 
work  of  the  Lesson  Committee,  and  to  assure  the  continued  study  of 
both  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  If  a  better  committee  can  bo 
selected,  they  should  be  chosen ;  if  a  better  plan  can  be  found,  it 
should  be  adopted  ;  if  better  selections  can  be  made,  we  desire  them ; 
if  better  translations  w'ill  produce  better  versions,  we  welcome  them ; 
if  excavations  and  discoveries  can  aid  us  more  clearly  to  understand 
the  book,  continue  them ;  but  let  us  have  the  Book.  Let  us  advance 
and  train  our  teachers  aud  explain  and  illustrate  our  |teaching;  but 
let  us  remember  that  it  is  the  Word  of  God  that  we  arc  to  teach,  and 
the  "  energy  which  lies  in  this  Word,  in  the  hand.-j  of  a  true  teacher, 
having  behind  it  splendour  of  character  and  a  divine  impulse,  is  like 
the  energy  from  which  the  light  sin-ung."  The  Lesson  Committee 
have  tried,  in  every  way  Iniown  to  them,  to  learn  the  mind  of  the 
Sunday  school  world  on  this  subject,  and  to  do  that  which  was  best. 
After  twenty-six  years  of  trial  and  success  they  devoutly  believe  that 
tlie  approving  blessing  of  God  has  accompanied  their  work.  The 
return  to  Old  Testament  Lessons  brings  up  once  more  Dr.  Gibson's 
question,  asked  at  St.  Louis  in  1893:  "  Will  the  Old  Book  do  for  the 
new  Century ? "  If  it  will  not  do,  what  have  we  left?  Are  we  to 
re-study  the  Bible,  or  are  we  to  begin  with  something  else  ?  Are  we 
to  follow  in  old  paths,  aided  by  all  the  light  that  now  shines,  or 
forsake  them  for  ways  unknown,  and  follow  men  "  who  are  sharp-eyed, 
along  the  low  horizons  of  earth  who  walk  by  street  lamps,  and  never 
steer  by  stars  ?"  What  Old  Testament  prophecy  has  failed,  what  word 
of  Jesus  Christ  has  lost  its  power  ?  We  must  have  one  universal  Book, 
that  reveals  a  universal  Saviour,  who  is  able  and  willing  to  save  the 
last  and  lowest  sinner  on  earth.  "  The  text-book  of  Christians — the 
Bible,  is  the  only  book  at  all  worthy  of  universal  adoption."  The 
men  who  have  prophesied  against  the  Book  have  made  failures, 
"  the  churches  wliich  have  built  away  from  Jesus  Christ  have 
vanished."  Tlie  Prophets  of  Spenccrism  were  not  intrusted  with  the 
last  words  of  wisdom,  and  we  need  not  fear  what  the  future  may 
bring.  There  are  philo.sophers  and  scholars,  and  problems  innumer- 
able, but  no  one  but  Christ  and  His  Church  has  ever  grappled  with 
sin  and  death,  and  no  book  but  the  Bible  tells  of  heaven  and  immor- 
tality. Yes,  the  Bible  will  do  for  all  tlie  centuries.  While  it  deals 
with  the  habits,  manners,  and  customs  of  tlie  past,  it  points  out  clearly 
the  sins  and  dangers  of  to-day,  the  perils  of  the  future,  and  tlie  remedy 
with  which  to  meet  them.  While  the  ancient  writings  of  men  on 
stone  or  brick,  papyrus  or  parchment,  are  valued  principally  as  relics 
for  our  museums,  the  Bible  is  for  every  age  and  clime,  the  voice  of 
God  speaking  in  language  so  simple  that  a  child  can  understand  it 
and  with  depths  so  profound  that  no  human  intellect  can  exhaust  its 
meaning.    If  asked,  shall  we  not  study  the  evidence  of  its  gcnuinenessj 


Sunday  School  Convention.  87 

we  answer,  most  certainly.  The  history  of  its  composition,  its  preserva- 
tion, its  translation  from  tongue  to  tongue  into  over  three  hundred 
languages  and  dialects,  its  marvellous  circulation  of  more  than  two 
hundred  millions  copies,  all  these  are  a  powerful  argument  as  to  its 
divine  origin.  But  there  are  other  tests  to  be  applied.  As  the 
woman  from  "  Sychar's  lonely  well "  said  to  her  neighbours  concerning 
the  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  "  Come,  see  a  man  that  told  me  all  the 
things  that  I  ever  did  !  Is  not  this  the  Christ  ?  "  So  we  may  say, 
"  Come,  see  a  book  that  told  me  all  things  that  I  ever  did.  Is  not 
this  the  Bible  ?  "  And  we  may  add,  "  It  tells  me  all  I  think,  and  all  I 
am,  and  all  I  may  be."  As  with  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  every  ray 
tells  of  the  hand  that  made  it,  so  of  the  Bible,  every  part  tells  of  the 
heart  that  inspired  it.  This  is  an  age  of  matchless  possibilities. 
Within  the  limits  of  the  century,  by  cities  exhumed,  by  monuments 
unveiled,  by  hieroglyphic  characters  deciphered,  by  Eosetta  stones, 
Moabite  stones,  and  Saloam  stones  that  are  crying  out,  by  the  unrest 
among  all  nations,  and  the  manifest  fulfilment  of  Scripture  prophecies 
and  promises,  the  testimony,  to  the  inspiration  and  value  of  the  Bible 
is  being  completed.  "  There  is  a  mighty  gulf  between  God's  thoughts 
and  man's  thoughts,  and  the  shores  of  that  gulf  are  as  far  apart  as 
Christ  and  self."  Two  things  will  distinguish  those  who  are  worthy 
to  be  classed  as  faithful  Sunday  school  workers :  profound  reverence  for 
the  Word  of  God,  and  sincere,  genuine  attachment  to  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Tlie  Ninth  International  (Fourteenth  National)  Convention  (Ameri' 
can)  will  (D.V.)  be  held  in  the  city  of  Atlanta,  Georgia,  April  27th 
to  30th,  1899.  We  cordially  invite  you  all  to  come  and  share  the 
feast  with  us. 

We  remind  you  that  Mexico  is  now  a  part  of  the  International  field, 
and  Sunday  school  work  and  organisation  is  making  progress  there ; 
they  speak  the  Spanish  language,  and  lesson  helps  are  being  provided 
for  them.  Cuba  will  soon  be  a  part  of  our  field  and  will  need  our 
help.  As  the  Bible  distributor's  cart  entered  Eome  with  Garibaldi's 
victorious  soldiers,  so  the  Bible  and  the  Sunday  school  should  enter 
Cuba  with  tlie  American  flag.  And  as  the  work  is  extended  to  Cuba, 
it  should  also  be  carried  to  the  other  West  India  islands  and  to 
Central  and  South  America.  The  International  Sunday  school  field 
should  include  the  entire  Western  hemisphere.  This  is  our  work,  we 
cannot  avoid  responsibility.     We  must  advance  beyond  all  others,  for 


"  The  heirs  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  files  of  time." 

Sunday  school  icorh  in  all  the  world. — In  addition  to  the  work  at 
home,  we  must  look  abroad,  even  as  the  Master  did,  while  talking 
with  His  disciples  at  the  well  of  Samaria.  His  vision  widened  from 
the  few  sheep  in  Judaea  and  Samaria  to  the  great  fold,  from  the 
harvest  in  Palestine  to  the  harvest  of  eternity.  The  flock  was  scattered. 


88  World's  Third 

but  not  beyond  the  range  of  His  vision  ;  the  harvest  was  great,  but  His 
garner  would  receive  it,  and  He  said,  "  Go,  teach  all  nations."  This 
is  the  hour  of  the  Church's  opportunity,  the  bells  are  ringing  out  the 
nineteenth  century  and  waiting  to  ring  in  the  twentieth  century. 
But  where  ?  There  is  no  nineteenth  century  in  many  lands ;  it  is  the 
sixth  or  tenth  century  in  China  or  Armenia,  and  in  some  places  nearer 
home.  We  renew  the  suggestion  made  at  St.  Louis,  that  if  the  funds 
can  be  secured  for  the  purpose,  a  committee  of  experienced  Sunday 
school  workers  be  sent  to  visit  the  principal  cities  and  missionary 
stations  of  Asia,  holding  meetings  and  conferences  with  missionaries, 
native  helpers,  and  Sunday  school  workers  in  China,  India,  and  Japan, 
and  to  learn  in  what  manner  the  Snnday  schools  of  Eugland  and 
America  can  aid  Sunday  scliool  work  throughout  the  world. 

One  of  the  delightful  features  of  this  meeting  is  the  sending  of  our 
Brother  Mr.  T.  C.  Ikeliara,  of  Tokio,  as  a  Sunday  school  field  worker 
to  Japan.  He  is  with  us  liere  in  this  Convention,  that  we  may  see 
him,  know  him,  love  him,  pray  for  him,  and  hear  him.  He  will  then 
go  forward  on  his  mission. 

"  The  missionary  century  is  almost  gone,  and  paths  long  shut  are 
opened."  A  few  years  ago  we  prayed  for  labourers,  and  were  taunted 
because  but  few  learned  men  from  colleges  and  universities  oftcred  to 
go.  A  few  weeks  ago  one  of  the  greatest  religious  meetings  ever  held 
gathered  in  Cleveland,  in  the  United  States.  It  was  the  Student's 
Volunteer  Missionary  Convention,  attended  by  2214  delegates,  repre- 
senting 450  institutions  of  learning  and  seventy  missionary  boards. 
Nearly  one  hundred  returned  missionaries  were  present,  representing 
all  parts  of  the  world,  together  with  over  one  hundred  presidents  and 
professors  of  colleges  and  seminaries.  Last  year  in  these  institutions 
there  were  267  classes  with  2361  students  studying  missions.  One 
thousand  one  hnndred  and  seventy-three  volunteers  have  gone  to  fifty- 
three  countries.     "  Prophecy  has  become  inspiring  history." 

The  Sunday  school  is  the  most  important  factor  in  missionary  work. 
What  we  may  be  and  what  wo  will  be  rests  with  ourselves  and  with 
no  one  else  and  nothing  else.  "  Wo  share  in  the  awful  responsibility 
of  shaping  the  world  for  Christ."  Let  no  one  smile  or  sneer  at  the 
sending  of  Burges  to  India  or  Ikehara  to  Japan.  God  has  been 
pleased  to  work  wonders  without  numbers,  and  to  use  men  that  trust 
Him.  It  will  take  time  and  cost  money,  and  many  true-hearted  ones 
will  give  even  life  itself.  "It  is  an  age-long  truth  that  human  pro- 
gress is  at  a  cost.  Tlie  history  of  progress  is  the  history  of  struggle 
and  heartache."  But  no  price  is  too  great  to  pay,  no  sacrifice  too 
great  to  make,  no  trial  too  heavy  to  endure,  if  we  may  attain  the 
highest  aim  of  life,  the  supreme  blessing  of  mankind  through  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  "  Beneath  a  great  life  purpose  there  must  bo 
a  great  passion."  The  love  of  Christ  constrained  the  Apostle,  became 
a  passion,  led  to  a  crown.  The  salvation  of  the  world  is  a  dark  ques- 
tion, Christians  difler ;  and  while  they  difler  "  the  restless  millions 
and  the  expectant  Christ  are  waiting."    The  blessings  that  God  has 


Sunday  School  Goni^ention,  89 

graciously  given  to  us  should  lead  us  devoutly  to  say  the  now  century 
shall  testify  our  desipe  to  hasten  His  coming. 

"  Our  father's  God ;  from  out  v/hose  hand 
The  centuries  fall  like  grains  of  saud, 
We  meet  to-day  united  free, 
And  loyal  to  our  land  and  Thee, 
To  thank  Thee  for  the  era  done, 
And  trust  Thee  for  the  opening  one. 

Oh,  make  Thou  us  through  centuries  long, 
In  peace  secure,  in  justice  strong. 
Around  our  gift  of  freedom  draw 
Tiie  safeguard  of  Thy  righteous  law, 
And,  cast  in  some  diviner  mould 
Let  the  new  cycle  shame  the  old." 

In  behalf  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  for  the  United  States. 

B.  F.  Jacobs, 
Chairman  Executive  Committee. 

Tho  Chairman:  I  now  call  upon  the  Kev.  L.  I3.  Maxwell  to  read  a 
paper  upon  the  Coloured  People  of  the  Southern  States. 

COLOURED  PEOPLE  OP  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES. 
By  the  Rev.  L.  B.  Maxwell  (U.S.A.). 

Kind  friends, — I  have  been  invited  to  speak  upon  or  rather  to  give 
a  report  of  the  Sunday  school  work  done  among  the  coloured  i^eople 
in  the  United  States. 

The  American  Union  of  States  is  composed  of  45  States,  with  an 
estimated  population  of  72,000,000  people.  Of  this  72,000,000  peoplo 
8,000,000,  or  one-ninth  of  the  whole  population,  are  negroes.  This 
does  not  necessarily  mean  that  they  are  all  black,  but  simply  that 
they  have  one-eighth  or  more  negro  blood  in  their  veins.  Out  of  the 
8,000,000  of  negro  population  6,000,000  lived  in  the  section  of  the 
Union  known  as  tho  Southern  States,  and  are  confined  to  14  States : 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Ark- 
ansas and  Oklahoma  Territory.  This  placed  three-fourths  of  tho 
whole  negro  population  within  these  States,  which  contained  a  white 
population  of  a  little  more  than  12,000,0000,  thus  making  the  ratio 
between  the  two  races  about  1  to  2. 

These  figures  are  very  significant  when  studied  from  an  educational 
standpoint,  and  especially  are  they  so  when  regarded  from  the  stand- 
point of  Simday  school  work  in  which  this  Convention  is  particularly 
interested. 

Great  as  is  the  need  for  thorough  organisation  on  tho  inter- 
denominational basis,  the  need  of  accurate,  definite  knowledge  of  the 
actual  facts  and  conditions  is  equally  great.     If  the  Sunday  schools 


90  Worl<r8  Third 

already  organised  are  not  doing  tlio  best  work  in  the  best  way  ;  if  the 
organisations  are  imperfect ;  if  the  masses  are  not  being  readied ;  if 
the  concei^tion  of  the  aim  of  all  Sunday  school  efiort  is  poor  and 
imperfect,  mistaking  means  for  ends,  then  the  first  and  only  wise 
thing  to  do  is  to  call  attention  to  these  defects.  So  long  as  people  are 
satisfied  witli  present  conditions,  imagining  them  to  be  all  they  should 
be,  efibrts  towards  improving  them  will  hardly  be  inaugurated. 

Two  things  are  very  clear  to  me:  (1.)  That  though  in  a  way 
there  are  many  schools,  yet  efi'ective,  far-reaching,  and  tlioroiigii 
work  is  not  in  proportion.  As  compared  with  tlie  population  and 
even  with  church  membership,  the  enrolment  is  small.  As  com- 
pared with  the  enrolment  the  attendance  is  small.  As  compared 
with  the  day-schools,  teachers,  and  teaching,  the  Sunday  schools  are 
behind.  (2.)  That  if  the  enrolment  is  to  be  enlarged,  tlio  attendance 
increased,  the  teaching  improved,  the  standard  raised,  the  best  results 
secured,  tlie  organised  system  must  bo  adopted. 

These  two  things  chiefly  constituted  my  work:  to  gather  and 
proclaim  to  them  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  to  suggest  and  help  them 
to  adopt  some  methods  which  would  eventuate  in  improving  tlicir 
condition. 

I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  my  part  of  the  work,  but  many  a  fault 
has  been  found  by  the  other  side  with  me.  While  the  world  may  not 
desire  to  have  the  whole  truth,  the  world  needs  it,  and  hence  the  truth 
ought  to  be  told  because  it  is  the  truth. 

Among  the  6,000,000  negroes  in  the  Southern  States  a  very  low 
estimate  would  give  at  least  3,000,000  children.  I  believe  there  are 
more.  Considering  the  great  importance  of  the  moral  training  given 
in  the  Sunday  scliools,  considering  the  imputed  religious  nature  of 
the  blacks,  and  considering  that  there  is  no  age  limitation,  and  that 
the  Sunday  schools  are  held  only  once  a  week,  and  that,  too,  on  a  day 
when  there  is  rest  from  labour,  one  would  suppose  that  the  Sunday 
schools'  enrolment  would  be  larger  than  that  of  the  day  schools,  but 
such  is  not  tlie  case. 

The  day  schools,  ]mblic  and  private,  give  an  estimated  enrolment 
for  these  States  of  about  two  million  children.  That  is,  two  out  of 
every  three  arc  receiving  an  education  in  some  school.  This  is  bad 
enough,  but  the  statistics  of  the  Sunday  school  will  fall  far  short  of 
this.  Let  mo  say  the  figures  which  I  shall  present  are  baaed  upon 
careful  estimate.     Exact  figures  are  impossible. 

The  Baptists,  the  largest  denomination,  larger  than  all  the  other 
denominations  conbined,  have  a  church  membership  of  1,483,533.  The 
A.  M.  E.  500,000,  the  A.  M.  E.  Z.  314,000,  the  M.  E.  105,000,  the 
Pres.  1G,000,  the  Cum.  Pros.  15,000,  the  Dis.  of  Christ  15,000,  the 
Congl.  (South)  7209,  Christians  5000,  the  Union  A.  M.  E.  3500, 
the  Prot.  Epis.  4000,  the  Union  Af.  Met.  Prot.  3000,  tiio  M.  E.  South 
C53,  the  Southern  Pres.  267.  Total  2,752,822,  almost  iialf  of  popula- 
tion. According  to  these  figures  it  will  bo  observed  that  the  Baptists 
have  214,000  more  members  than  all  the  others  combined. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  91 

The  Baptists  have,  in  these  fourteen  southern  States,  in  their  Sunday 
schools  a  few  less  than  300,000  (1|  million  names)  scholars,  and  since 
the  enrolment  in  the  schools  of  the  various  denominations  would  aver- 
age about  the  same,  in  all  the  other  denominations  together  there  are 
about  300,000  children  in  the  Sunday  schools.  This  would  give  them 
a  Sundiiy  school  enrolment  for  these  States,  which  is  about  correct,  of 
600,000.  Beckoned  upon  a  basis  of  the  whole  population,  there  are  in 
our  schools  one  out  of  every  ten  persons.  Reckoned  strictly  upon  the 
basis  of  the  number  of  children  in  these,  one  out  of  every  five.  For  a 
long  time  it  seemed  incredible  that  for  every  negro  youth  enrolled 
upon  the  books  of  the  Sunday  school  four  are  wandering  about  uncared 
for  and  untaught  on  the  Lord's  day.  But,  then,  more  than  50  per 
cent,  of  white  children  never  go. 

Here  are  the  figures  :  where  600,000  go,  2,400,000  never  go  ;  and  it 
is  an  open  question  if  they  ever  go  inside  a  church ;  hence  they  are 
deprived  of  all  the  benefits  which  come  from  the  kind  of  training 
received  in  Sunday  school. 

There  are"  two  things  which  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  considering 
this  matter.  First,  attention  is  called  to  the  number  enrolled  by 
the  various  denominations.  To  correctly  understand  what  bearing 
this  has  upon  the  number  of  actual  attendances  it  may  be  well  to  call 
your  attention  to  this  fact.  In  the  cities  and  in  many  of  the  villages 
the  Sunday  schools  are  held  regularly  each  Sunday,  but  in  the  rural 
districts  they  are  often  held  only  once  a  month — on  big  meeting  day 
when  the  parson  is  on  hand — so  that  a  large  number  receive  the  moral 
instruction  of  the  Sunday  school  only  once  a  month,  or  twelve  lessons 
a  year,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  great  majority  of  our 
people  live  in  the  rural  districts. 

Then,  too,  an  enrolment  is  one  thing  and  actual  regular  attendance 
is  another  thing ;  and  this  is  true  even  where  there  are  methods  and 
missionaries,  &c.,  on  purpose  to  secure  regularity  in  attendance. 
Secondly,  another  thiug  which  can  never  be  omitted  when  considering 
Sunday  school  work  is  the  efficiency  of  the  teaching. 

In  a  great  many  of  our  schools  we  have  excellent  teachers.  This  is 
true  largely  of  the  city  schools ;  but  in  the  rural  districts,  where  the 
best  teaching  is  needed  because  of  the  lower  condition  of  the  people, 
the  poorest  teachers,  for  the  same  reason,  are  in  the  saddle,  so  that  a 
great  deal  which  passes  for  teaching  is  not  teaching.  It  amounts  to 
this,  then :  in  many  places  where  schools  are  going  on  regularly,  and 
fine  reports  are  made  as  to  numbers  and  attendance,  very  little  teach- 
ing of  real  worth  is  going  on,  and  very  little  along  the  lino  of  live- 
saving  and  character-building  is  being  done. 

I  have  presented  you  one  side,  and  viewed  from  one  standpoint  the 
figures  seem  small,  only  600,000  out  of  more  than  3,000,000 ;  but 
viewed  from  another  they  are  not  so  bad  as  they  seem.  Certainly  it 
is  an  error  which  can  be,  and  which  we  believe  is  being,  corrected.  In 
all  the  South  land  you  will  find  not  one  single  person  who  would  lift 
hand  or  voice  against  the  Sunday  school.    We  all  believe  in  it. 


92  tVorld'a  Third 

Almost  every  church  of  every  denomination  from  Maryland  to  TeSas 
has  what  it  is  pleaeed  to  call  a  Sunday  school  in  connection  with  it ; 
but  as  the  good  Bishop  of  London  said  last  night  in  his  address  on 
national  education  in  England,  while  everyone  spoke  respectfully  of  it, 
yet  educational  progress  had  to  be  made  by  the  few.  The  same  thing 
has  been  largely  true  with  respect  to  our  Sunday  school  work.  It 
has  been  respectfully  left  to  the  few  to  carry  it  on,  and  they  have 
done  well  to  do  eo  well  as  they  have  done. 

Then,  too,  ignorance,  that  enemy  and  retarder  of  the  human  race, 
has  had  much  to  do  with  it ;  ignorant  of  the  great  importance  of 
moral  training,  ignorant  of  the  splendid  results  of  moral  training,  and 
ignorant  of  the  methods  by  which  those  results  are  obtained,  things 
have  been  allowed  to  pursue  their  own  sweet  course. 

When,  thirty-five  years  ago,  the  immortal  Lincoln,  your  kinsman 
across  the  sea,  and  our  beloved  President — a  prince  among  men — as  the 
exponent  of  the  thought  of  one  section  of  the  American  nation — which 
thought  to-day,  thank  God,  is  no  longer  sectional  but  reaches  from 
Canada  to  the  Gulf,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean — through  the  emancipa- 
tion proclamation,  raised  us  from  serfdom  to  the  peerage  of  American 
citizenship,  and  wrapped  around  us  the  stars  and  stripes  fcr  protection, 
we  were  ignorant,  but  were  intelligent  in  that  we  knew  that  we  did 
not  know.  And  being  told  that  the  power  and  strength  of  the  American 
Kepublic  rested  first  upon  tlie  general  intelligence  of  her  citizens,  is 
it  strange  that  we  laid  peculiar  stress  upon  the  day  schools  to  the 
exclusion  of  many  other  important  things  ? 

The  enrolment  in  our  Sunday  schools  has  not  been  larger  because 
we  did  not  know  it.  We  thought  wo  were  doing  good  work,  wo  had 
fair  reports  ;  nobody  had  been  commissioned  to  gather  the  facts,  the 
various  denominations  had  not  compared  notes,  denominational  fences 
have  been  so  high  that  we  could  not  sec  over  into  our  neighbours' 
yards,  we  mistook  noise  for  numbers.  But  now  we  know  the  facts, 
we  have  a  larger  conception,  we  have  started  out  on  our  commission, 
we  are  repairing  our  fences,  and  by  God's  help  things  are  moving. 

It  is  with  pleasure  that  it  is  possible  to  report  tliat  generally  the 
schools  are  supplied  with  literature  published  by  their  own  denomina- 
tions, and  tliat  they  generally  use  the  International  lessons. 

Nearly  three  years  ago  the  International  Executive  Committee, 
seeing  the  necessity  of  organised  work  among  the  negroes,  adopted 
measures  to  help  them.  For  almost  a  year  one  man  represented  them 
in  this  work.  But  what  could  he  do  among  the  millions?  Nine 
months  later  the  committee  appointed  an  assistant.  Since  then  these 
two  have  been  busy  gathering  statistics,  studying  conditions,  holding 
institutes,  teaching  methods,  and  organising  town,  country,  and  State 
organisations  on  the  inter-denominational  basis.  The  idea  of  inter- 
denominational work  was  new.  In  it  many  thought  they  saw  the 
breaking  up  of  their  respective  denominations.  At  first  it  was  not 
very  kindly  received.  The  pastors  mistrusted,  the  flocks  followed. 
Gradually,  however,  open  opposition  gave  place  to  respectful  tolera- 


Sunday  School  Convention.  93 

tion,  and  that  is  now  yielding  to  a  sort  of  an  open-shut-approbation  ; 
eome  have  grasped  the  movement  with  warm  hands,  many  have  saluted 
it  formally,  some  are  still  observing  it  respectfully  from  a  respectable 
distance,  but  open  opposition  is  passing.  Gradually  the  idea  of 
broader  Christian  fellowship  is  surging  upon  us,  and  the  day  of  inter- 
denominational fellowship  and  co-operation  is  dawning. 

The  work  has  been  carried  into  nine  States,  yet  only  four  can  be  said 
to  contain  anything  like  permanent  inter-denominational  State  organi- 
sations. They  are  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  and  South  Carolina. 
Georgia  is  the  best  organised,  South  Carolina  follows.  Georgia  con- 
tains 138  counties,  of  these  69  have  been  organised  more  or  less 
tlioroughly.  In  addition  there  are  32  precinct  organisations,  and  one 
district  association  comprising  five  counties.  In  all  the  States  more 
than  200  county  and  precinct  organisations  have  been  effected. 

We  have  established  52  weekly  teachers'  meetings,  28  normal 
classes,  and  31  home  departments.  Many  schools  of  higher  grade 
have  been  visited  and  addresses  on  Sunday  scliool  work  given,  urging 
the  young  people  in  them  to  take  hold  of  the  work  as  they  go  out  to 
teach  the  district  schools  during  vacation.  And  more  than  100,000 
people  have  been  addressed  on  Sunday  school  work  and  methods. 
The  present  conditions  make  imperative  the  inter-denominational 
co-operative  system. 

With  "us  at  present  the  Church,  and  not  the  home  as  among  the 
white,  is  the  great  centre  of  influence,  not  only  of  our  religious,  but 
intellectual,  social,  and  political  life  as  well.  The  reason  for  this  is 
to  be  found  in  our  past  history.  I  have  known  instances,  and  they  are 
numerous  still,  where  country  parsons  absolutely  controlled  many 
whole  counties.  What  he  endorsed  lived,  what  he  opposed  died ;  so 
that  what  the  people  shall  be  for  the  next  fifty  years  will  depend  more 
upon  our  churches  than  upon  our  homes  or  schools.  If  we  can  get  our 
churches  to  become  as  thoroughly  interested  in  Sunday  school  work  as 
they  are  in  the  day  schools  they  would  soon  be  as  well  attended. 

As  I  see  it  the  Sunday  school  with  its  moral  training  is  the  golden 
key  to  the  situation.  It  has  more  to  do  with  the  solution  of  the  race 
problem  than  is  generally  supposed.  Better  teaching  in  the  Sunday 
school  would  Boon  elevate  the  pulpit  to  higher  standards.  When  the 
pulpit  shall  generally  begin  to  intelligently  preach  the  "  Word  of  God 
in  simplicity  yet  in  its  power  "  those  who  hear  will  go  home  to  live 
better  lives — thus  both  home  and  State  will  be  benefited.  But  it  is 
only  through  inter-denominational  efforts  that  the  masses  can  be 
gathered  to  be  instructed.  No  denomination  alone  will  be  able  to  do 
it.  Inter-denominational  co-operation  is  absolutely  necessary,  first,  for 
the  gathering  of  facts,  and,  secondly,  for  the  canvassing  of  cities  and 
districts  that  the  children  might  be  gathered  in. 

"  Fleecy  locks  and  black  complexion  '< 

Cannot  alter  nature's  claim  ; 
Skin  may  differ,  but  affection 

Dwells  in  white  and  black  the  same." 


94  World's  Third 

GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  IRELAND. 
]\Ir.  F.  F.  Belsey,  J.P.  (Chairman  of  Sunday  School  Union,  London). 

Tills  afternoon  and  this  evening  you  have  been  making  a  journey 
round  the  world,  and  now  at  last  you  are  back  to  the  old  land  of 
Raikes,  and  you  are  asking  as  you  come  near  its  shores  for  some  little 
story  of  the  work  done  here  during  the  last  five  years.  You  had  that 
work  reported  at  St.  Louis,  and  all  of  yoii  have  done  what  I  am  sure 
every  good  delegate  will  do — you  have  made  a  careful,  word-by-word 
study  of  the  committee's  report.  You  already  know,  therefore,  what 
figures  were  then  presented.  Now,  for  the  figures  to-day  I  am  very 
thankful  to  say  I  am  not  responsible.  But  I  do  believe  those  figures  have 
been  put  together  with  the  greatest  care  and  attention,  and  with  every 
desire  for  accuracy,  so  that  if  you  are  deceived  it  is  not  wilfully,  but 
by  those  unfortunate  circumstances  which  always  attach  to  the 
collection  of  figures. 

I  am  very  rejoiced  to  tell  you  that  as  far  as  those  five  years  are 
concerned  they  have  been  years  of  very  distinct  and  emphatic  progress 
in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  We  have  during  those  five  years  seen 
opened  6530  more  Sunday  schools,  and  in  these  Sunday  schools 
28,764  more  teachers,  and  895,805  more  scholars.  Now  these  figures 
at  first  sight  look  most  encouraging,  but  there  is  one  feature  about 
them  that  I  want  to-night  to  emphasise  at  the  very  beginning  of 
this  report.  You  have  had  an  addition  of  something  like  a  million 
of  children,  nearly  900,000,  and  you  have  had  an  addition  of  not  quite 
30,000  teachers.  On  the  old  scale,  the  scale  of  one-tenth,  you  ought 
to  have  had  80,000  teachers  prepared  by  the  churches  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  those  895,000  scholars.  The  churches  have  failed  to  supply  us 
with  teachers  to  the  tune  of  50,000  Christian  men  and  women.  We 
are  50,000  teachers  behind  the  ratio  we  ought  to  be  able  to  report 
to-night,  and  I  want  this  Convention  to  go  forth  with  the  feeling  that 
while  we  grow  scholars  by  the  million  we  must  grow  teachers  by  the 
hundred  thousand. 

Now,  one  of  the  points  which  is  very  interesting  is  just  this,  that 
this  progress  has  taken  place  almost  entirely  in  England  and  Wales. 
In  England  and  Wales  wc  have  bail  opened  some  6431  schools.  That 
means  that  five-and-twenty  new  Sunday  schools  have  been  opened 
every  Sunday  in  England  and  Wales.  In  Scotland  there  have  been  only 
fifty-three  new  Sunday  schools  opened,  so  that  while  we  are  opening 
five-and-twenty  new  schools  in  England  and  Wales  every  Sunday,  in 
Scotland  they  are  opening  one  a  month.  In  Ireland  they  have  only 
opened  thirty-six  more ;  that  means  seven  a  year.  Now  these  points 
are  very  interesting  to  remember,  and  keeping  them  before  us  as  the 
great  facts  we  have  to  look  at  and  explain,  let  us  now  see  if  we  can  go 
to  the  different  countries  and  ask  for  more  particulars. 

First  of  all  may  I  take  you  to  that  gallant  little  Wales,  which  is 
really  the  home  of  the  Sunday  school,  so  far  as  Great  Britain  ig 


Sunday  School  Convention.  95 

concerned.  Now,  the  Sunday  school  ia  trebly  dear  to  tho  Welshman. 
First  of  all  he  loves  it  because  he  loves  his  Bible,  and  these  Welsh 
Sunday  schools  hold  a  couple  of  sessions,  many  of  them  during  tho 
week,  in  order  to  prepare  for  the  Sunday  school  lessons.  They  contain 
not  only  the  childhood  of  Wales,  but  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of 
Wales.  And  this  is  why  they  are  trebly  dear  to  the  Welshman,  not  only 
because  he  loves  his  Bible  and  goes  there  to  study  it,  but  he  loves  his 
music  and  goes  there  to  sing.  He  loves  his  country  and  his  language, 
and  he  goes  there  to  speak  it  and  to  keep  it  living — and  you  know 
what  a  lovely  language  it  is.  It  was  the  old  language  of  Eden,  no 
doubt  about  it.  No  doubt  the  first  love  words  Adam  ever  spoke  to 
Eve  were  downright  guttural  Welsh.  However,  he  loves  the  language 
and  comes  to  the  Sunday  school.  And  in  Wales,  I  am  very  glad  to 
say,  the  Sunday  schools  are  well  organised.  Down  south,  around 
Cardiff  and  Swansea  and  other  towns,  strong  Sunday  school  unions 
exist,  and  these  Sunday  school  unions  have  found  their  way  into 
English-speaking  Pembroke. 

In  North  Wales  they  have  their  own  denominational  unions,  and  it 
is  pleasing  to  know  that  tliey  very  largely  employ  the  International 
lessons,  and  I  suppose  a  very  large  portion  of  the  Welsh-speaking 
schools  are  studying  these  same  lessons  in  Welsh  that  we  use  in 
England.  The  Christian  Endeavour  movement  had  a  very  warm 
welcome  in  Whales,  and  we  liopo  very  soon  to  see  its  effects  clearly 
traced  upon  the  character  of  their  schools.  They  are  retaining  their 
elder  scholars  much  better  than  we  are  on  our  side  of  the  border. 
And  so,  on  all  hands,  I  am  very  glad  to  find  that  our  friends  can 
report  generally  from  nearly  every  quarter  full  schools,  more  regular 
attendance,  and  awakened  interest. 

Now  for  Scotland.  We  all  know  how  the  Scotchman  loves  the 
Bible  and  how  he  loves  the  kirk,  and  in  Scotland  at  least  we  can 
point  to  a  people  trained  in  the  love  and  knowledge  of  God's  Word. 
Therefore  I  hope  no  Scotchman  will  for  a  single  moment  think  I 
want  to  say  a  syllable  of  unfriendly  criticism  of  a  nation  to  which 
we  owe  60  much,  and  which  has  set  us  so  splendid  an  example.  But 
so  far  as  from  very  careful  enquiry  I  can  gather  it  would  appear  that 
the  Sunday  school  qua  Sunday  school  has  not  yet  been  so  lovingly 
nursed  and  cherished  in  Scotland  as  have  the  Sustentation  Fund  and 
tlie  Ministerial  Stipend  Fund.  There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  atten- 
tion given  to  the  Sustentation  Fund,  and  one  dear  old  worker,  a 
hearty  Scotchman,  I  consulted,  ventured  to  say  that  if  the  Scotch- 
man had  come  to  look  upon  the  Sunday  school  as  less  dear  than  the 
Sustentation  Fund  of  the  Church,  it  was  going  in  the  wrong  direction, 
and  tliat  if  you  wanted  Church  sustentation  you  must  go  to  the 
Sunday  school  for  it.  If  you  can  once  get  our  Scotch  friends  to  look 
upon  it  in  the  same  light,  Sunday  schools  will  come  to  the  front. 
And  just  now,  although  the  children  are  being  in  many  cases  splendidly 
looked  after  and  taught,  there  appears  to  be  a  general  waking  up  to 
the  fact  that  there  is  no  uniform  system  of  Sunday  school  instruction 


96  World's  Third 

thcro.  They  have  a  number  of  different  associations.  Tlioy  ore 
mourning  for  the  loss  of  a  considerable  number  of  scholars,  and,  as 
you  see,  there  are  few  Sunday  schools  opened.  So  far  as  I  can  gather 
that  largely  arises  from  a  number  of  other  educational  institutions 
which  have  been  established.  There  are  the  Boys'  and  Girls'  Religious 
Societies,  the  Children's  Churches,  the  Foundry  Boys  in  Glasgow, 
and  a  number  of  other  institutions  wliich  I  do  not  suppose  get 
reckoned  in  amongst  the  Sunday  schools  which  are  doing  a  great  deal 
for  the  youth  of  Scotland. 

Then  the  Sunday  schools  are  held  at  various  times.  They  are  held 
some  of  them  between  five  and  six,  some  between  one  and  two,  and  at 
times  that  we  should  consider  very  awkward.  No  doubt  they  are 
convenient  to  them,  but  the  hours  are  somewhat  irregular. 

In  addition,  I  may  say  that  our  Simday  schools  in  Scotland  owe 
an  unusual  debt  of  gratitude  to  one  splendid  organisation  there,  I  mean 
the  Glasgow  Sabbath  School  Union.  It  has  been  doing  noble;  work  in 
Scotland  for  many  years  past.  It  has  not  only  gathered  the  teachers 
in  conventions,  some  of  which  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  attend,  but 
it  has  also  formed  new  Sabbath  School  Unions  throughout  Scotland. 
It  is  doing  a  great  deal  in  the  preparation  of  literature.  It  has  an 
earnest  paid  secretary.  It  has  its  central  buildings  in  Glasgow,  and 
in  various  ways  it  is  helping  the  Sunday  schools.  By  examinations 
in  the  International  lessons  it  is  doing  all  it  can  to  encourage  the 
study  of  the  lessons  in  the  schools.  It  is  examining  the  teachers.  It 
is  making  special  arrangements  for  evangelistic  work  with  the  aid 
of  the  lantern  and  lantern  services.  And  last,  but  not  least,  it  is 
copying  the  excellent  example  of  the  London  Sunday  School  Union 
by  establishing  a  Fresh  Air  Fund  for  the  poor  little  puling  children 
of  the  crowded  slums.  It  has  established  its  normal  training  class,  and 
just  now  they  are  beginning  to  look  at  the  question  of  the  establish- 
ment of  a  National  Scotch  Sunday  School  Union.  If  they  do  I  can 
only  say  the  Sunday  School  Union  will  rejoice  to  see  organisation 
carried  further  in  tliat  noble  country.  All  we  hope  is  that  if  that 
Scotch  Sunday  School  Union  be  established  it  will  venture  to  stretch 
out  its  hand  to  the  older  society,  helping  us  to  develop  Sunday 
school  work  here  while  we  help  it  to  develop  Sunday  school  work  in 
Scotland. 

I  pass  to  what  is  called  "the  distressful  country."  Let  us  cross 
St.  George's  Channel  and  look  at  Ireland.  I  am  glad  to  say  it  is  not 
a  discouraging  look.  One  is  very  glad  to  receive  assurance  from 
reliable  quarters  that  the  work  of  the  Irish  Sunday  schools  is  being 
done  in  a  full  determination  not  to  rest  content  with  anything  but  the 
highest  spiritual  results  and  the  earnest  desire  that  the  Sunday  school 
may  be  the  means  of  winning  j'oung  hearts  for  Christ. 

In  the  Dublin  Union  the  International  lessons  are  used,  and  the 
result  is  pronounced  to  bo  satisfactory.  In  Cork  similar  assurances 
are  given,  while  of  course  in  Londonderry,  Belfast,  and  Portadown, 
■we  find  a  sound  system.     If  you  walk  down  the  Crumlin  Road, 


Sunday  School  Convention.  97 

Belfast,  you  will  find  a  noble  Sunday  school  with  accommodation  for 
1132  scholars.  I  suppose  it  is  one  of  the  finest  schools  in  the  British 
Islands. 

Passing  to  our  own  land  I  do  not  think  I  need  detain  you  long. 
You  all  know  the  position  of  aftairs,  and  there  has  been  no  exception 
during  the  past  five  years.  We  have  had  attention  called,  and  we  are 
glad  to  have  it,  to  our  defects  and  our  shortcomings.  We  have  been 
told  on  high  profcosional  authority  that  our  teachers  have  not  been 
so  carefully  and  successfully  trained  as  they  ought  to  be ;  and  it  has 
been  the  eflbrt  of  provincial  unions  and  of  the  central  unions  to  do  all 
in  their  power  to  take  advantage  of  the  awakened  interest  and  to 
stimulate  the  teachers  of  our  country  to  more  careful  preparation  for 
their  solemn  duties.  Conventions  and  conferences  have  been  held  and 
counties  have  been  organised.  Unions  have  been  formed  and  work  taken 
up  in  connection  witli  village  schools,  and  we  have  given  special 
attention  to  the  weakest  points,  and  I  think  the  gratifying  intelli- 
gence that  nearly  one  million  more  scholars  are  crowding  our  English 
and  Welsh  schools  is  pretty  good  proof  that  the  agitation  of  this 
question  has  done  us  good.  We  welcome  criticism.  Tell  us  our 
faults  and  we  will  try  to  remedy  them.  We  look  not  at  our  strength  but 
at  our  weakness  in  order  that  strength  may  take  the  place  of  weakness. 
God  bless  and  help  us.  We  are  doing  the  work  well,  we  want  to  do 
it  better.  We  know  that  in  many  schools  there  is  room  for  immense 
improvement  and  in  every  school  for  some,  and  it  is  the  object  of  the 
institution  we  are  connected  with,  patiently  day  by  day,  week  by  week, 
year  in  and  year  out,  to  try  and  develop  in  this  land  of  ours,  the  birth- 
place of  the  Sunday  school,  Sunday  schools  of  which  the  century 
shall  not  be  ashamed  and  for  which  the  Church  shall  be  grateful,  and 
on  which  Christ  shall  smile. 

The  closing  hymn  "Sun  of  my  soul,  Thou  Saviour  dear,"  having 
been  sung, 

The  Chairman  said :  Before  pronouncing  the  Benediction,  I  am 
sure  you  will  allow  me  on  your  behalf  to  thank  those  who  have  led 
the  singing  this  evening,  and  to  say  how  much  we  appreciate  the 
services  they  have  rendered. 


08  World's  Third 


SECOND  DAY— FOUKTH  SESSION. 

Wednesday  Morning,  July  13th. 

GEAND   SUNDAY  SCHOOL  DEMONSTRATION  AT  THE 
CRYSTAL  PALACE,  SYDENHAM. 

The  Convention  was  divided  for  tlie  day  into  two  sections,  one  held 
in  the  theatre  facing  the  Handel  Orchestra  and  called  Room  A ;  the 
other  in  the  Skating  Rink  and  called  Room  B. 

In  Room  "A"  Mr.  Alderman  George  White,  of  Norwich,  was 
called  to  the  chair. 

The  opening  hymn,  "  Come,  Thou  desire  of  all  Thy  saints,"  having 
been  sung  and  prayer  offered — 

The  Chairman. — It  is  my  business,  in  presiding  over  this  meeting, 
simply  to  introduce  those  who  are  to  address  us  on  various  topics  of 
interest  connected  with  Sunday  school  work.  I  can  only  express 
regret  that  so  few  of  our  friends  have  at  present  arrived,  because  I 
am  sure  that  a  Norwich  Sunday  school  has  yet  to  learn  many  of  the 
methods  adopted  in  America.  I  had  the  privilege  of  attending  the 
Convention  at  St.  Louis,  and  also  a  visit  of  Sunday  schools  in  the 
United  States  and  in  Canada,  where  I  saw  a  great  deal  to  interest 
and  instruct  me.  No  doubt  we  shall  have  much  valuable  information 
put  before  us  this  morning  in  the  addresses  to  be  delivered  to  us  by 
experts  from  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 


PRIMARY  UNIONS  AND  SUMMER  SCHOOLS. 

By  Mr.  I,  P.  Black  (^Secretary  of  the  International-  Primary  Union 
of  the  U.S.A.) 

I  have  been  assigned  the  pleasant  task  of  presenting  to  you  the 
work  of  a  Primary  Union  and  organized  Primary  work.  For 
convenience  I  will  divide  the  topic  as  follows  : — 

(1.)  What  is  a  Primary  Union.  (2.)  How  to  organize  and  conduct 
a  Union.  (3.)  Special  features  of  Union  work.  (4.)  The  origin  and 
growth  of  Primary  Unions.  (T).)  The  work  of  the  International 
Union  of  Primary  Sunday  School  Teachers.  (G.)  County  and  State 
Unions.     (7.)  Organized  Primary  work  in  the  States  and  Provinces. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  99 

What  is  a  Pkimaby  Union? — A  Primary  Union  is  a  number  of 
Primary  Sunday  school  teachers  organized  to  study  the  Bible  lesson 
and  to  discuss  methods  of  work  looking  to  the  improvement  of  their 
classes  and  also  for  mutual  acquaintance.  Perhaps  I  can  better 
express  the  value  of  a  union  to  the  Primary  teacher  by  quoting  from 
letters  received  from  Primary  teachers,  who  speak  from  experience  : — 
One  teacher  writes  :  "  If  I  possess  knowledge  which  has  helped  and 
blessed  me,  am  I  not,  as  a  Christian,  in  duty  bound  to  pass  it  along  ? 
A  prominent  member  of  the  Cleveland  Primary  and  Junior  Sunday 
School  Teachers'  Union  gave  a  bit  of  testimony,  not  long  since,  as  to 
the  usefulness  of  the  Union.  A  lady  recently  visited  her  Primary 
department.  At  the  close  of  the  session  she  said,  '  Pardon  me,  but  I 
feel  constrained  to  tell  you  the  impression  made  upon  my  mind  this 
afternoon.  About  a  year  ago  I  visited  your  school,  and  on  returning 
home,  said  to  my  husband,  'Mrs.  Blank  is  an  earnest  teacher,  but  she 
is  not  adapted  to  teaching  little  children.  She  speaks  above  their 
heads.  They  could  not  understand  her,  and  they  were  not  interested. 
I  am  sure  she  has  mistaken  her  calling.'  But  to-day  I  find  everything 
so  changed.  Your  little  ones  have  understood  you.  You  held  their 
attention  without  difficulty  while  you  instructed  and  fed  them.  I 
must  ask  what  has  made  the  change  ?  The  thankful  teacher  replied, 
'  There  is  but  one  answer  to  your  question.  The  Primary  Teachers' 
Union,  which  I  have  been  attending  for  the  last  few  months,  has, 
under  God,  done  it.' " 

Another  teacher  writes  : — "  We  find  the  Union  so  much  of  a  help  to 
our  teaching  the  lesson  to  the  little  ones,  that  I  have  frequently 
been  told  by  the  teachers  that  they  feel  they  could  hardly  go 
before  their  classes  if  they  did  not  attend  the  Union.  I  am  sure  I 
voice  the  sentiment  of  the  rest  when  I  say  we  could  not  do  without 
our  Union  now." 

Another  worker  says : — "  A  teacher  who  recently  attended  one  of 
our  meetings  for  the  first  time  said  it  was  a  revelation  to  her.  She 
had  been  teaching  little  ones  for  some  time,  but  never  once  thought 
the  lessons  could  be  made  so  plain  and  interesting  for  small  scliolars, 
and  through  the  help  derived  from  the  Union  she  could  teach  the 
lessons  much  easier  and  better  than  ever  before." 

Another  teacher  adds  the  following  testimony: — "During  my  ten 
years'  experience  as  a  Primary  teacher,  I  liave  found  nothing  so 
helpful  as  the  meetings  of  the  Primary  Teachers'  Union.  There  I 
learned,  not  only  how  to  teach  the  weekly  lesson  with  simplicity,  but 
after  the  discussion  which  is  given  each  week  on  various  subjects, 
many  a  burden  has  rolled  away  and  many  a  difficult  question  has  been 
solved." 

How  TO  Organize. — First,  call  together  the  Primary  and  Junior 
teachers  of  all  denominations  residing  in  the  place.  By  Junior  I 
mean  those  who  teach  children  from  nine  to  thirteen  years  of  age, 
for  they  need  about  the  same  kind  of  help  as  the  Primary  grade. 
Tliis  can  best  be  done  by  one  earnest  active  Primary  worker  making 

H  2 


100  World's  Third 

a  personal  visit  to  each  teacher  and  enlisting  her  co-operation.  ^Vhen 
this  is  not  possible,  the  first  meeting  can  be  called  by  letter  or  postal- 
card.  At  the  first  meeting  appoint  the  following  temporary  officers  : 
President,  Vice-President,  Secretary,  Treasurer.  Let  these  serve  for 
a  few  months  until  it  has  been  ascertained  who  is  most  competent  to 
fill  office,  when  these  same  officers  or  others  can  be  elected  to  serve 
for  a  year. 

I'lace  of  Meeting. — While  very  many  churches  are  willing  to  provide 
a  room  for  the  Union,  it  has  been  found  most  desirable  to  hold  the 
meetings  in  the  rooms  of  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  W.  C.  T.  U.,  as  this  is  a 
common  meeting-place  for  interdenominational  work. 

The  Management  of  a  Union. — First  in  order  will  be  a  Constitution. 
Let  some  simple  constitution  and  by-laws  be  adopted  as  soon  as 
possible  in  order  to  have  system  in  the  work. 

Committees. — Of  vital  importance  are  the  committees  and  their 
work.  I  strongly  advocate  the  plan  of  the  Christian  Endeavour 
Society,  namely,  every  one  at  work  and  every  one  on  some  committee. 
First  in  importance  is  the  Devotional  Committee,  charged  with 
arranging  the  opening  and  closing  services  of  the  meetings,  and  the 
selection  of  the  teacher  of  the  lesson.  In  some  Unions  it  has  been 
found  advisable  to  secure  one  competent  teacher  for  all  the  lessons. 
The  greater  proportion  of  the  Unions  realize  the  importance  of  having 
different  teachers  each  week,  so  that  various  methods  of  teaching  may 
be  brought  before  the  LTnion.  The  timid  teacher  is  often  permitted  to 
bring  a  class  of  little  ones  from  her  own  school  and  teach  them  the 
lesson.     Teachers  thus  gain  confidence  to  work  before  others. 

The  next  committee  in  importance  is  the  Impkovement  Committee. 
It  is  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  select  the  topics  for  discussion 
bearing  upon  practical  methods  of  Primary  work ;  to  invite  some 
teacher  to  read  a  paper  on  the  selected  topic,  and  also  to  secure  others 
to  speak  upon  this  topic.  This  committee  should  also  arrange  for  the 
Normal  Lessons,  the  Blackboard  Class,  and  the  Child  Study  Class. 

A  committee  of  great  importance  is  the  Music  Committee.  To  their 
care  is  entrusted  the  selection  of  the  song  book  used  at  the  meetings, 
the  hymns  to  be  sung  during  the  service,  and  the  bringing  before  the 
teachers  new  songs,  and  songs  for  special  occasions,  such  as  Christmas, 
Easter,  and  Children's  Day.  When  not  able  to  procure  printed  copies 
of  these  songs,  this  committee  should  furnish  mimeograph  copies  of  the 
words.  Tiicy  should  also  be  good  singers,  and  take  a  position  around 
the  musical  instrument  during  the  singing. 

The  Sociable  Committee  can  render  great  service.  Stationed  near 
the  entrance  to  the  room  they  should  be  good  handshakers,  giving  a 
warm  welcome  to  all  new-comers,  and  ascertain  their  names,  school 
and  address,  by  means  of  cards  prepared  for  this  purpose.  This 
committee  should  know  every  member  of  the  Union,  and  at  least  twice 
a  year  arrange  for  a  Primary  Union  social  at  the  close  of  the  session. 
After  an  hour  of  social  intercourse  light  refreshments  should  be  served 
before  dismissing. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  101 

A  very  important  committee  is  the  Library  Committee.  They 
should  first  secure  and  then  take  care  of  a  Primary  Teachers'  Library. 
Many  teachers  are  not  able  to  purchase  all  the  books  tliey  need  to 
help  them  in  their  work,  but  a  number  of  teachers  can  do  this,  starting 
often  with  only  one  book.  The  New  York  City  Union  has  gathered  in 
their  library  during  the  past  few  years  one  hundred  and  seventy 
books,  and  many  Unions  have  boon  able  to  gather  very  helpful 
libraries,  though  small  in  number.  This  committee  should  procure 
large  scrap-books,  in  which  can  be  pasted  the  various  programmes, 
cards, 'and  appliances  which  Primary  teachers  use  in  their  classes. 

These  five  committees  are  of  vital  importance  to  the  successful 
conduct  of  a  Union,  while  other  useful  ones  can  be  added  as  the 
numbers  increase  and  they  are  found  to  be  needed. 

Topics  for  Discussion. — The  International,  Union  of  Primary 
Teachers  publishes  a  list  of  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  helpful  topics. 
An  additional  list  of  subjects  might  be  used  for  discussion  during  the 
first  three  months  of  the  formation  of  a  Union : — 

How  I  conduct  my  class.  Ways  of  keeping  the  Primary  Class  roll. 
Order  of  Exercise.  Songs,  and  ways  of  teaching  them.  Prayer  in  the 
Primary  Class.  Help  for  preparation  of  Primary  lessons.  Should 
Primary  scholars  study  the  lesson  before  or  after  it  is  taught  in  the 
class?  Supplemental  lessons.  Promotion — how  conducted.  Necessary 
appliances,  and  little  things  that  help  or  hinder.  The  teacher's  week- 
day work.  Ways  of  securing  home  co-operation.  How  to  conduct 
reviews. 

Order  of  Exercises  in  a  Primary  Union. — The  following  order  of 
exercise  was  followed  by  the  Philadelphia  Primary  Union  from 
January,- 1898,  to  April,  1898: — 2  p.m.  Blackboard  class.  3  p.m. 
Song.  Reading  Bible  Lesson  in  concert.  Prayer.  Song.  Collection. 
Lesson  taught.     Prayer.     Song.     4  p.m.  Normal  class. 

Expenses. — The  expenses  of  a  Primary  Union  are  met  in  several 
ways :  1.  By  an  annual  small  subscription ;  2.  By  collections  every 
week;  3.  By  gifts  from  the  Sabbath  schools  of  the  town.  Many 
superintendents  realize  the  importance  of  the  Primary  teacher 
receiving  a  training  for  her  special  work,  and  are  willing  to  contribute 
to  this.  Many  schools  also  pay  the  expenses  of  a  Primary  teacher 
who  has  to  travel  to  attend  the  nearest  Union,  knowing  it  is  money 
well  invested. 

Special  Work  for  Unions. — During  the  past  few  years  many 
Unions  have  taken  up  the  following  special  lines  of  work  : — 

1.  Child  Study. — Primary  teachers  are  beginning  to  realise  that 
they  must  know  more  about  the  children  whom  they  teach,  so  they  have 
formed  classes  for  the  study  of  the  child.  These  classes  meet  before 
or  after  the  study  of  the  lesson.  They  are  often  fortunate  to  secure 
the  gratuitous  services  of  a  teacher  of  psychology,  who  gives  them  a 
lecture  of  half  an  hour's  duration,  which  is  afterwards  discussed  by 
the  teachers.  These  Child  Study  classes  have  not  only  been  helpful 
to  the  Primary  teacher,  but  to  many  mothers,  who  have  gladly  availed 


102  World's  Third 

themselves   of    tliis  opiioitunify    to    learn    more    about    tlieir    own 
children. 

2.  BlarJchoard  Classes. — This  has  become  a  very  interesting  ami 
instructive  feature  of  the  work  of  a  Primary  Union.  Thi.s  class 
generally  mecits  before  the  lesson  is  taught.  A  competent  teacher 
is  secured  for  a  small  remuneration.  Sometimes  teachers  of  drawing 
in  the  public  schools  are  Primary  teachers,  and  are  willing  to  impart 
their  knowledge  for  little  or  no  compensation.  Teachers  are  provided 
with  lap  blackboards  and  erasers  and  crayon,  and  a  fee  of  a  few  cents 
a  lei  son  is  sufiBcient  to  meet  all  necessary  expenses.  To  these  classes 
not  only  Primary  teachers  but  superintendents  of  the  main  school 
have  found  it  profitable  to  become  scholars. 

o.  Normal  Clas^. — This  class  is  generally  held  after  the  lesson. 
Some  competent  person  is  selected  to  teach  the  Normal  lessons,  taking 
up  some  course  on  the  Books  of  the  Bible,  Old  Testament  History,  or 
the  Life  of  Christ. 

4.  Home  Co-operation. — Many  of  the  Unions  realise  that  the 
teachers  can  do  better  work  if  the  home  is  brought  into  closer  touch 
with  the  class,  so  they  have  held  meetings  to  which  they  invited  all 
the  parents  of  the  town  whoso  children  were  in  the  Primary  class. 
Topics  pertaining  to  the  religious  training  of  the  little  ones  are 
discussed,  aiid  mutual  interchange  of  ideas  follows.  These  must 
certaiidy  prove  to  be  very  productive  of  good  results  to  both  the 
parents  and  the  teachers. 

5.  Superintendents  Help. — Some  of  the  Unions  have  invited  the 
superintendents  of  the  Sunday  school  to  hold  a  conference  with  the 
Union  regarding  Primary  work.  The  closer  we  can  bring  the  superin- 
tendents and  Primary  teachers  together,  and  the  more  the  work  can 
be  discuFScI,  the  greater  will  be  the  results  from  Sunday-school 
teaching. 

Helpful  Unions. — In  some  states  strong  Unions  have  been  able  to 
help  weaker  ones  within  reach  by  occasionally  sending  to  them  some 
one  to  teach  the  lesson  and  discuss  a  topic.  This  gives  great 
encouragement  to  new  Unions,  who  generally  feel  weak  and  timid 
for  awliile. 

Size  of  Union. — It  is  often  said,  "  Our  place  is  too  small  to  organise 
a  Union."  I  have  never  seen  a  place  where  two  or  three  teachers 
lived  but  what  it  was  feasible  to  have  a  Union,  for  the  study  of  the 
lesson  and  the  discussion  of  topics.  One  of  the  most  active  and 
helpful  of  Unions  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  has  only  five  members, 
and  these  come  a  long  distance  over  -mountain  roads  to  meet  each 
other  once  a  week  and  talk  over  their  mutual  work. 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  call  your  attention  to  the  origin  and 
growth  of  the  Primary  Unions,  that  you  may  note  liow  signally  God 
has  blessed  the  work  of  these  Unions. 


Sunday  School  Convmlion,  103 


OiuGiN  OF  Pbimary  Union.s. 

1870.— The  tirot  Primary  Teachers'  class  for  the  purpose  of  studying 
Ihe  Bible  lesson,  and  for  mutual  improvement,  was  held  on  February 
18th,  1870,  in  the  city  of  Newark,  New  Jersey.  This  class  continued 
to  hold  weekly  meetings  for  twenty  years,  under  the  name  of  the 
Newark  Association  of  Infant  Sunday-School  Teachers.  On  its 
twenty-first  birthday,  February  18th,  1891,  it  was  regularly  organised 
into  the  Newark  Primary  Teachers'  Union. 

1871. — Early  in  February,  1871,  a  band  of  Primary  class  teachers 
held  a  first  meeting  in  the  Bible  house  in  the  City  of  New  York. 
They  met  regularly  until  February,  1881,  when  the  New  York 
Primary  Teachers'  Union  was  formed.  Mrs.  W.  F.  Crafts  was  the 
first  president  of  the  Union,  and  continued  in  this  position  till 
June,  1888. 

1879.— On  April  26th,  1879,  the  Philadelphia  Primary  Teachers' 
Union  was  formed.  This  was  the  first  class  of  Primary  teachers  to 
adopt  the  name  of  Union,  which  is  now  so  universally  applied  to  these 
classes  of  Primary  teachers. 

1881.— In  the  fall  of  1881  the  Washington  Primary  Teachers' 
Union  was  organised. 

1884. — At  the  fifth  anniversary  of  the  Philadelphia  Primary  Union, 
May  13th,  1884,  a  National  Union  of  Primary  Teachers  was  formed, 
with  the  following  ofiScers :  President,  Mrs.  W.  F.  Crafts ;  Vice- 
President,  Mr.  Israel  P.  Black ;  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Mr.  Frank 
Hamilton. 

1887. — In  June,  1887,  during  the  International  Sunday-School 
Convention  in  Chicago,  the  National  Primary  Union  was  changed 
into  the  International  Union  of  Primary  Sunday-School  Teachers  of 
the  United  States  and  British  American  Provinces,  with  the  following 
officers:  President,  Mrs.  W.  F.  Crafts;  Vice-President,  Mrs.  M.  G. 
Kennedy ;  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Mr.  Wm.  N.  Hartshorn.  In 
November,  1887,  the  Secretary,  Mr.  Hartshorn,  resigned,  and  after 
some  lapse  of  time  Mr.  Israel  P.  Black  was  appointed  to  fill  this 
office. 

From  1884  to  1891  the  International  Union  worked  to  establish 
Primary  Unions  in  every  jilace  where  there  was  a  prospect  of  suc- 
cessful classes  being  formed.  To  this  end  it  corresponded  with 
Primary  teacheiss  all  over  the  United  States  and  British  American 
Provinces,  and  endeavoured  to  facilitate  this  work  by  means  of 
leaflets,  which  were  published  monthly  and  distributed  at  all 
gatherings  of  Sunday  school  teacherji,  and  also  mailed  to  individual 
Primary  teachers. 

1891. — By  the  mouth  of  September,  1891,  forty  Unions  had  been 
formed,  which  were  mostly  large  Unions  in  important  centres  of 
the  country. 

1893.— At  the  lotemational  Coijvention  in   St.  Louis,  Missouri, 


104  TFoj-W.s  llunl 

August,  lS9o,  the  number  of  Unions  bad  increased  to  fifty.     At  this 
meeting  Miss  Bertha  F.  VcUa  was  elected  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

189G. — From  1893  to  1S9G  Miss  Velhi  pushed  the  work  so  energeti- 
cally that  at  the  Boston  Convention,  June,  1890,  she  was  able  to 
report  110  organised  Unions.  Miss  Vella  was  compelled  to  resign 
the  office  of  Secretary,  and  again  was  Mr.  Black  pressed  into  the 
service. 

1898. — Since  the  Boston  Convention  the  work  has  advanced  with 
rapid  strides,  and  on  Jiily  1st,  1898,  there  are  250  Unions,  in  successful 
working  condition.  Of  this  number  229  are  in  the  United  States, 
and  twenty-one  are  in  the  British  American  Provinces.  The  gain  in 
Unions  since  June,  lS9(j,  has  been  seventy  a  year,  while  the  loss  in 
ITnions  giving  up  has  not  been  over  four  per  cent. 

The  International  Union  of  Primary  Sunday  School  Teachers 
OP  THE  United  States  and  British  American  Provinces. — This 
organisation  consists  of  all  the  members  of  Primary  Unions  in  tlio 
United  States  and  British  American  Provinces.  The  triennial 
business  meeting  is  held  in  connection  with  the  International  Con- 
vention. The  International  Council  consists  of  one  member  from 
each  state  and  province  appointed  by  the  state  or  provincial 
association.  The  Central  Committee  of  the  International  Council  is 
composed  of  the  President,  Vice-President,  and  Secretary  of  the 
International  Primary  Union,  with  the  addition  of  four  prominent 
Primary  workers.  The  duties  of  this  Central  Committee  are  to 
conduct  all  the  business  pertaining  to  the  work  during  the  interim  of 
the  triennial  meeting.  The  expense  of  properly  conducting  the  work 
of  the  International  Primary  Union  is  about  500  dollars  a  year. 

The  Work. — The  work  of  the  International  Primary  Union  is  to 
encourage  and  assist  organised  Primary  work.  It  endeavours  to  do 
this — (1.)  By  assisting  the  state,  provincial  and  county  officers  to 
form  Unions  wherever  it  is  practicable.  (2.)  To  disseminate  as  much 
helpful  Primary  literature  as  its  funds  will  permit.  (3.)  To  encourage 
states  and  provinces  to  organise  a  Primary  Department  or  Council  in 
every  state  or  province,  so  that  the  Primary  work  may  proceed  under 
the  official  direction  of  the  state  and  provincial  Sunday-School 
Association,  and  not  independent,  ])ut  a  part  of  it.  (4.)  To  encourage 
the  larger  presentation  of  Primary  work  at  every  county,  state  and 
international  convention.  (5.)  To  encourage  the  holding  of  Primary 
Institutes  as  often  as  may  be  practicable  in  cities  and  counties.  (G.) 
To  encourage  and  assist  in  the  holding  of  Summer  schools  of  Primary 
methods,  which  have  been  very  helpful  and  successful  wherever  they 
have  been  held. 

Publications. — While  the  International  Union  is  limited  to  the 
expenditure  of  such  funds  as  are  generously  contributed  by  the 
different  Unions,  it  aims  to  supply  the  wants  of  Unions  and  individual 
teachers  as  far  as  possible  : — 

1.  It  issues  four  times  a  year  a  twenty-page  magazine  called  the 
"Quarterly   Bulletin,"  which   contains  reports  from   the  Unions   of 


Sunday  School  Convention.  105 

their  work  during  the  quarter,  and  children's  exercises  and  songs  for 
use  ill  the  Primary  class.  A  number  sufficient  for  every  member  is 
sent  free  to  all  the  Unions.  At  the  same  time,  the  Unions  are 
expected  to  contribute  to  the  expenses  of  the  International  Union  as 
they  are  able. 

2.  The  "Primary  Teachers'  Manual."  This  little  book  of  eighty 
l)ages  contains  articles  on — What  is  a  Primary  Union,  Constitution  and 
By-Laws,  Primnry  Unions  in  the  Provinces,  Primary  Union  Organisa- 
tion, Ono  hundred  and  fifty  Topics  for  Discussion,  A  List  of  Books 
for  a  Primary  Library,  State  Primary  Secretary  Work,  and  a  list  of 
over  two  hundred  helps  and  appliances  that  teachers  need  to  know 
about  and  possess,  real  up-to-date  books  and  helps. 

3.  An  outline  programme  for  the  use  of  Unions  during  the  first 
tliree  montlis  of  their  organisation. 

4.  A  large  leaflet  containing  the  Constitutions  of  the  Primary 
Departmeut  and  Councils  of  several  of  the  states  which  have  organised 
for  this  work. 

State  and  County  Unions. — In  some  of  the  states.  State  Unions 
have  been  formed,  and  also  County  Unions.  While  from  necessity 
tliese  cannot  hold  meetings  as  often  as  a  local  Union,  they  have  been 
able  to  do  good  work.  The  Otonabee  County  Union  in  the  Province 
of  Ontario,  reports  that : — 

"  Our  Union  meets  the  last  Wednesday  in  the  quarter  in  the  village 
of  Keene,  which  is  a  central  place  for  the  teachers.  We  have  the 
Primary  teachers  from  seven  schools  and  fourteen  members,  and  some 
visitors.  We  meet  from  2  to  5'30  p.m.,  and  take  up  all  the  lessons  for 
the  coming  quarter.  Six  teachers  take  two  each  and  illustrate  how 
they  could  be  taught,  using  sand-board,  black-board,  objects,  &c. 
Then  we  spend  a  few  minutes  in  discussion  after  each  lesson,  and 
other  suggestions  are  given.  They  all  take  notes  on  the  lessons. 
Wlien  we  get  through  with  the  lessons  we  discuss  difficulties  and  talk 
of  our  encouragements,  which  are  many.  The  majority  get  on  very 
nicely  with  their  work  and  are  desirous  of  doing  their  very  best. 
We  also  road  and  discuss  something  on  Primary  work.  We  all 
consider  that  the  County  Union  is  very  helpful  to  us." 

State  Primary  Departments. — Within  a  few  years  fifteen  of  the 
states  and  two  of  the  provinces  have  organised  Primary  Departments, 
and  sixteen  states  and  two  provinces  have  appointed  Primary  Secre- 
taries or  Superintendents,  who  devote  all  or  part  of  their  time  to  the 
development  of  Primary  work  in  their  territory.  A  few  of  these 
Primary  Secretaries  are  paid  an  annual  salary,  while  the  others  are 
paid  for  part  of  the  time,  and  many  are  performing  great  services 
without  any  compensation. 

At  present  there  are  two  plans  of  work  in  the  different  states, 
which  I  will  briefly  outline: — 

Ist.  The  Council  Plan. — The  State  Primary  Council  is  composed  of 
representatives  from  organised  Primary  Teachers'  Unions,  who  hold 
an   annual   business  meeting   for  planning  the   work.     During   the 


106  World' fi  Third 

intervo,!  the  business  is  conducted  by  a  Central  Committee  elected  by 
tlie  Couucil,  to  wliich  committee  is  given  full  power  to  act.  This 
Council  is  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Sunday-School  Associa- 
tion, and  has  power  to  liokl  Institutes,  Summer  schools  and  meetings. 
Its  expenses  are  met  by  contributions  from  the  Unions,  supplemented 
by  donations  from  tlio  State  Sunday-School  Association.  The  plan 
has  worked  with  splendid  results  in  older  states  where  the  Unions 
tirst  came  into  existence. 

2nd.  The  second  plan  is  known  as  the  Primary  Department  of  the 
State  or  Provincial  Association,  and  is  created  by  the  state  or 
province  of  wliich  it  is  a  department,  similar  to  the  Normal  or  Homo 
department  class.  The  membership  consists  of  all  Primary  and 
Junior  teachers  in  the  state  or  province.  In  the  annual  meeting, 
wbich  is  held  in  connection  with  the  state  or  provincial  convention, 
the  representation  is  by  counties.  At  this  time  Unions  report  as  well 
as  County  Primary  Secretaries.  In  connection  with  such  a  Primary 
Department  a  State  Primary  Secretary  is  appointed,  who  is  President 
of  the  Department.  County  Primary  Secretaries  are  appointed  who 
work  under  the  State  Primary  Secretary,  There  is  no  County 
Primary  organisation,  but  the  County  Primary  Secretary  is  made  one 
of  the  officers  of  the  County  Sunday-School  Association.  This  plan 
has  many  advantages  in  states  where  Unions  are  few  in  number  and 
weak.  It  has  been  found  that  those  plans  which  are  nearest  in 
accord  with  already  established  lines  of  organisation  in  state  and 
province  have  promoted  the  greatest  good  to  the  cause. 

State  Primary  Secretaries. — The  first  state  to  realise  the  importance 
of  having  a  Primary  Secretary  in  the  field  was  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, which  appointed  Miss  Bertha  F.  Vella  to  organise  the 
Primary  work  of  the  state.  These  State  Primary  Secretaries  have 
done  good  service  in  the  way  of  gathering  statistics  concerning  the 
Primary  work  of  the  state.  Miss  Jessie  L.  Munro,  of  the  Province  of 
Ontario,  and  Mrs.  W,  J.  Semelroth,  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  have 
prepared  and  sent  out  most  excellent  circulars  in  this  line,  which 
must  surely  bear  good  fruit. 

While  all  of  these  Primary  State  Secretaries  or  Superintendents 
have  done  most  excellent  work,  I  regret  that  I  am  able  to  present 
the  statistics  of  this  work  from  only  one  state.  Mrs.  J.  AVoodbridge 
Barnes,  Primary  Superintendent  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  has 
been  in  the  field  since  October  1895;  during  this  time  she  has 
travelled  in  the  state  alone  over  60,000  miles,  has  made  750  addresses, 
taught  600  classes  or  lessons,  held  450  conferences  with  Primary 
teachers,  has  written  over  8,000  personal  letters,  and  has  sent  out 
2,500  circulars,  500  postals,  besides  1,200  pieces  of  other  mail  matter, 
besides  attending  to  a  great  many  calls  outside  of  the  state.  This  is 
only  a  sample  of  what  such  workers  as  Miss  Bertha  F.  Vella,  Mrs.  J. 
W.  Barnes,  Mrs.  W.  J.  Semelrotli  and  Miss  Jesse  S.  Munro  are  doing 
in  Primary  work. 

Before  closing  I  desire  to  extend  to  Primary  and  Junior  teachers 


Sunday  School  Convention.  107 

throughout  tlie  world  the  hearty  greetings  of  the  International 
Union  of  Primary  Sunday  School  Teachers,  and  to  express  the  hope 
that  they  will  speedily  realise  the  great  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  a  thorough  organization  in  their  special  line  of  work.  As 
a  regular  reader  of  the  Sunday  School  Chronicle  I  am  pleased  to 
notice  that  in  England  the  Sunday  School  organisations  are 
designated  by  the  name  of  Unions.  Has  not  the  time  arrived  for 
organising  a  new  Union  of  Primary  workers  in  every  place  where 
the  older  union  is  now  established  ? 

I  am  authorised  by  the  officers  of  the  International  Union  of 
Primary  Sunday  School  Teachers  to  furnish  all  the  information  and 
assistance  that  is  necessary  to  promote  the  organisation  of  Primary 
Teachers'  Unions  in  any  part  of  the  world,  in  hopes  that  this  bond  of 
sympathy  and  union  between  Primary  workers  may  encircle  the 
globe,  and  hasten  the  coming  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  who  sat  "  a 
little  child  in  the  midst  of  His  disciples," 


CLASS  OR  DEPARTMENTAL  MANAGEMENT. 

By  Miss  Bertha  Vella  (^Vice-President  of  the  International  Prima rij 
Union,  Massachusetts,  U.S.A.). 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  me  to  be  a  representative  for  the  first  state  in 
America  which  has  employed  a  Primary  Secretary.  When  the 
World  Sunday-School  Convention  was  held  at  St.  Louis,  our  beloved 
President,  Mr.  Jacobs,  invited  me  to  present  at  this  gathering  a 
statement  of  the  Primary  work.  When  he  said  to  me,  "  Other 
people  would  like  to  know  how  Jlassachusetts  is  taking  up  the 
work,"  I  felt,  though  I  had  very  little  to  tell,  I  was  glad  to  go  and 
tell  that  little.  I  could  at  least  say  that  our  correspondence,  during 
the  first  year  of  organisation,  amounted  to  more  than  4,000  Primary 
letters  written  in  reply  to  Primary  teachers  who  asked  questions 
about  the  work.  As  Mr.  Jacobs  said,  "  Go  to  London  and  try  to 
tell  them  something  about  organising  school  work,"  I  will  put  on 
the  blackboard  the  simple  word,  "  Go " ;  and  if  any  one  is  called 
to  the  work,  I  pray  that  the  word  will  remain  on  her  mind,  and 
that  she  may  feel  there  is  some  place  where  she  can  go  to  carry 
on  the  work. 

I  say  the  work  has  grown,  and  we  liaA'e  been  anxious  to  conduct 
it  in  the  right  way.  So  we  have  tried  to  go  "  right "  in  every 
respect.  Eeference  has  been  made  to  the  normal  work  of  this 
Primary  Teachers'  Union.  Fourteen  of  such  Unions  in  Massachu- 
setts have  undertaken  some  system  of  normal  work ;  and  in  this  normal 
work  our  teachers  have  been  learning  that  there  are  certain  laws 
which  underlie  all  their  work  in  the  class-room,  and  they  have  tried  to 
adapt  those  laws  more  thoroughly  to  their  work.  The  first  law  they 
have  tried  to  carry  out  is  the  law  of  adaptation  ("  A  ").  They  have 
tried  to   get  the  work  adapted  to   the  age,  intellectual   capacities, 


108  World's  Third 

uormal  conditions,  and  social  surroundings  of  their  pupils.  Tlien  as 
they  have  pursued  tlic  normal  work  they  have  learned  that  the  law 
of  cooperation  ("C")  sliould  be  kept  in  mind.  The  teacher  does 
nut  teach,  uulcas  the  pupils  learn  something  wliich  they  can  carry 
away  with  them.  So  tliroughout  our  1900  schools  in  IMassachusetts 
the  teachers  arc  trying,  in  lesson  work  and  in  study  work,  to  win 
co-operation  from  the  pupils  under  tiieir  cluirgc. 

They  arc  also  realising,  as  they  have  never  done  before,  that  their 
work  should  be  definite  ("  D  "),  if  they  are  to  get  definite  results 
from  teaching  the  lesson  and  to  see  those  definite  results  at  the  cud  of 
tlieir  year's  work;  and,  as  they  are  trying  to  adapt  work,  to  win  the 
co-oi^eration  of  the  pupils,  and  to  get  definite  results,  they  are  realising 
as  never  before,  that  the  work  nmst  be  carried  on  sy.stematically  ("  S  "). 
The  work  must  have  some  system  from  week  to  week,  month  to  montli, 
quarter  to  quarter,  right  through  the  year ;  and,  of  course,  that  leads 
them  as  Primary  workers  to  realise  that  the  work  must  be  illustrated 
("  I  ")  and  made  plain  in  the  right  ("  K  ")  way,  and  according  to  the 
laws  of  teaching.  They  are  realising  that,  if  they  are  to  get  these  definite 
results  they  must  carry  out  another  law  of  teaching,  and  that  is  the 
law  of  repetition  ("  K  ").  And  to  make  their  work  the  very  best,  they 
have  to  keep  in  mind  also  the  law  of  variety  ("  V  "). 

As  the  teachers  are  working  out  these  laws  and  making  them  the 
foundation  of  their  work,  tliey  are  realising  that,  in  order  to  do  it, 
children  of  dift'erent  ages  should  be  taught  by  themselves  as  it  were. 
So  in  many  of  our  city  schools  and  in  many  of  our  country  schools  the 
work  is  getting  graded  on  a  plan  similar  to  that  of  putting  in  classes  or 
departments  by  themselves  children  who  are  too  young  to  read.  Those 
departments  are  called  Sub-Primary  or  Kindergarten  Departments. 
We  have  regular  Primary  departments  taking  children  from  about 
6  to  9  or  10  years  of  age ;  and  the  teacliers  are  realising  that, 
if  they  would  get  the  best  results  in  their  work  the  children 
from  10  to  14  need  to  be  by  themselves.  So  in  many  :of  our  city 
and  country  churches  we  are  getting  what  we  call  the  Junior 
Department.  When  this  system  of  departmental  work  has  been 
introduced  we  enforce  it  by  having  an  annual  Promotion  Day. 
Some  like  to  have  a  Children's  Sunday  in  June,  others  prefer  it 
on  the  last  Sunday  of  the  year.  On  this  occasion  the  Primary 
chiklren  take  their  places  on  the  platform  and  recite  whatever  they 
have  memorised  in  supplemental  Bible  instruction  and  receive  their 
diplomas  or  certificates.  They  are  then  received  into  the  Junior 
Department  by  its  superintendent ;  and  where  the  schools  can 
possibly  do  so  they  provide  all  these  Primary  graduates  with  copies 
of  the  Bible,  as  they  went  into  the  Junior  Department,  the  object 
being  that  they  may  learn  how  to  use  their  Bibles  and  read  them 
during  the  week.  When  they  take  their  places  on  the  platform  the 
Juniors  show  their  friends  the  work  they  have  memorised  by  drawing 
maps.  They  have  sand-map  exercises  to  show  their  parents  and 
friends  that  their  being  in  the  Junior  Department  for  three  or  four 


Sunday  Sclwol   Convention.  109 

years  has  meant  sometliing  definite  in  work.  By  this  system  of 
grading,  according  to  the  ages  and  intellectnal  capacities  of  the 
children,  we  feel  that  we  are  getting  near  the  right  way  of  working. 

The  next  word  I  wish  to  put  on  the  board  is  a  small  one  ("  On  "). 
We  are  trying  to  go  right  on  in  the  work.  Our  grading  is  conducted 
with  regard  to  two  special  lectures.  One  is  the  grading  of  the  lesson 
and  work  in  the  Kindergarten  Department.  The  lessons  are  taught 
very  simply  with  stories  and  pictures.  In  the  Primary  Department 
we  are  able  to  introduce  blackboard  lessons  and  sand-raniJ  work  and 
other  appliances.  In  the  Junior  Department  we  require  liome-study 
for  the  pupils  and  expect  them  to  do  considerable  lesson  work.  The 
next  thing  is  that  we  shall  go  right  on  working  ("  Working "),  and 
special  attention  shall  be  given  to  Primary  as  well  as  to  the  Juniors. 
Teachers  ask  how  they  can  have  proper  discipline  in  their  work  ? 
("  W.  dis.")  Every  Siniday  school  ought  to  be  a  ijlace  of  reverence 
and  worship,  and  with  this  grade  work  we  are  able  to  bring  that 
about  much  more  easily  than  when  people  of  different  ages  arc 
assembled;  because  we  can  have  exercises,  psalms  and  so  on 
appropriate  to  certain  ages.  We  should  organise  the  Juniors,  because 
we  have  reached  the  age  when  certain  important  habits  ("H  — 
habits  ")  are  to  be  formed.  Boys  and  girls  of  ten  years  of  age  can  be 
led  into  the  habit,  without  waiting  for  the  parents  to  get  them  into  it, 
of  daily  Bible  reading,  and  can  be  guided  in  their  general  reading  as 
well  as  in  some  simple  church  work,  into  which  they  are  gradually 
led.  In  many  of  our  churches  the  agencies  are  being  organised  in 
various  Committees,  such  as  Social  Committees  and  Scrap-book  Com- 
mittees. The  latter  make  scrap-books  for  hospitals,  and  the  former 
help  the  poorer  homes  and  assist  the  mothers  and  the  children. 
Let  each  one  be  willing  to  fulfil  the  Master's  word  and  undertake 
any  duty  He  asks  of  us.  We  shall  then  find  that  He  will  bless  the 
work  He  has  given  us  so  that  we  shall  carry  it  on  in  the  right  way ; 
and,  if  we  carry  it  on  in  the  right  way,  we  shall  find  that  we  are 
not  only  workers  ourselves,  but  are  developing  others  for  Christian 
work  and  leading  them  into  it.  If  He  gives  us  grace  and  wisdom 
to  do  that,  we  shall  find  that  the  whole  Sunday  school  work  in 
all  our  lands  in  the  wide  world  will  continue  to  grow,  and  to  the 
great  organisations  that  we  see  represented  in  these  assemblies  to-day 
will  prove  to  be,  in  ages  to  come,  the  prophecy  of  the  way  in  which 
the  Master  will  further  bless  our  united  efforts.    (Cheers.) 

The  "  class  lesson "  was  illustrated  on  the  blackboard  by  Miss 
Bertha  Vella,  thus  : — 

Go  W  dis  A  adaptation 

Eight  H  habits  C  co-operation 

on  Y  work  D  definite 

Working  S  systematically 

I  illustrated 
E  right 
V  variety 


110  World's  Third 


PEINCIPLES  OF   PEIMARY   TEACHING. 

Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes  (State  Primnry  Superintendent  of  Fennsyha7iia, 
U.S.A.)  spoke  ou  the  Principles  of  Primary  Teaching  as  follows  : — 

Christianity  lias  taught  us  that  the  work  of  home  and  the  work  of 
the  church  is  the  establishment  of  Christian  character.  We  might  ask 
ourselves  what  character  is.  There  is  a  little  definition  which  helps 
me  in  my  work  :  it  is  that  character  is  "  the  stamp  set  upon  life  by  its 
actions."  We,  I  am  sure,  all  prove  this,  for  we  are  each  of  ua  what 
we  are  because  of  all  the  yesterdays,  and  tomorrow  our  characters 
will  be  stronger  or  weaker  by  the  added  life  of  to-day. 

Action  is  thought  materialised,  actualised.  But  there  is  motive- 
power  back  of  action.  It  is  said  that  action  is  thought  materialised, 
but  that  feeling  starts  (he  train,  Will  standing  at  the  switch.  We 
can  comprehend  why  Will  is  called  the  fulcrum  of  character. 
Environment  cannot  always  be  controlled,  but  the  Will  can  be  formed 
to  do  the  right ;  and  that  is  where  our  hope  comes  in  with  regard  to 
the  little  children,  when  we  try  to  help  them  in  solving  many  of  life's 
problems.  Because  of  this  our  teachers  in  the  Sunday  school,  whether 
the  older  grade  or  the  younger  grade,  have  one  aim,  and  that  is  to 
bring  the  will  of  the  child  in  touch  with  the  Divine  will,  in  order  that 
they  may  run  together,  and  that  the  will  of  the  child  shall  be  the  will 
of  Christ,  leading  it  into  riglit  actions,  which  in  itself  shall  make 
right  character. 

We  teachers  of  little  children  have  one  text-book,  which  our 
Heavenly  Father  has  given  to  iis  to  reveal  His  will.  There,  as  He 
has  given  us  the  children,  He  has  given  us  something  else.  Our  part, 
as  teachers,  is  to  study  the  children,  these  living,  growing  and 
developing  creatures,  and  to  bring  to  them  the  Word  of  (jod  according 
to  the  laws  He  has  placed  in  the  children.  Our  part  is  to  lit  our 
processes  of  education  to  the  stages  of  the  unfolding  of  the  child.  If 
we  leave  the  little  rose-bud  on  the  bush  to  itself,  Nature  takes  care  of 
it  and  unfolds  it  in  the  right  way.  If  we  go  and  keep  opening  it,  it 
will  be  blighted :  but  if  we  leave  Nature  to  work  in  its  own  way,  we 
shall  see  the  flower  developed.  It  is  so  with  regard  to  our  teaching. 
We  want  to  have  our  material  and  our  methods  of  work  alongside  of 
the  development  that  Gotl  has  placed  in  the  child  itself. 

We  l:ave  two  ways  of  bringing  this  about.  We  have  the  Word  of 
God,  and  then  we  have  our  religious  teaching  and  our  religious  train- 
ing. Where  we  make  a  mistake  sometimes  is  that  we  are  apt  to 
separate  the  two,  instead  of  keeping  them  together  and  letting  them 
go  hand  in  hand.  Some  say  that  education  is  encouragement  ami 
preparation  for  two  ends;  one  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  the  other 
the  develoimient  of  power.  These  two  we  must  bring  always 
together :  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  by  knowledge  and  also 
tlie  development  of  the  power  which  has  come  into  the  life  of  the  child 
and  which  is  to  lead  it  into  the  hands  where  wc  wish  it  to  be. 


Sunddy  Srhool  Cotioention.  Ill 

We  might  take  up  two  sections  of  work  which  would  bring  us  into 
the  real  work  of  teaching.  I  can  only  now  hint  at  them.  The  first  is 
suggested  by  Miss  Vella.  As  we  think  and  as  we  study  the  child  and 
study  the  laws  of  teaching,  we  see  that  it  is  very  necessary  for  us  to 
turn  our  attention  to  the  subject  of  material.  All,  or  any,  material 
will  not  do  for  children.  Wc  must  select  passages  from  the  Bible  and 
hymns  in  such  a  way  as  that  wc  give  the  children  what  is  best  for 
them.  Let  us  be  more  wise  in  the  choice  of  material.  After  that 
comes  our  method  of  work,  for  the  method  of  work  can  never  come 
until  we  have  made  the  selection  of  material. 

Four  things  have  helped  me  and  always  will  help  every  primary 
teacher.  I  can  hardly  class  them  as  principles,  and  I  cannot  now 
illustrate  any  one  of  them,  but  will  just  name  them.  First,  we  are 
not  dependent  on  memory  work  alone,  but  memory  work  comes  first, 
and  it  is  done  in  day  school  and  is  the  best  way  of  teaching  children. 
Secondly,  we  are  not  to  tell  everything.  We  are  to  remember  that  we 
have  to  draw  out  what  is  in  the  pupils  already.  We  must  bear  in  mind 
that  we  learn  by  telling  and  receive  by  giving.  That  is  just  as  true 
with  the  little  children  as  with  the  older  ones.  The  third  thing  is 
that  we  are  to  recognise  individuality.  That  is  what  Miss  Vella 
meant  when  she  told  us  how  wise  we  should  be,  when  forming  our 
department  plan,  to  recognise  differences  in  the  individuality  of  our 
various  pupils.  We  are  very  apt  to  teach  classes  instead  of  teaching 
individuals.  The  fourth  and  next  thing  is  that  we  should  remember 
we  cannot  teach  little  children  in  the  same  way  we  teach  older  ones ; 
but  that  we  must  teach  through  the  experience  of  the  child.  That  it 
is  which  makes  our  task  so  difficult  many  times,  because  a  little  child 
is  so  limited  in  its  experience ;  its  world  is  very  small,  and  we  need  to 
understand  and  study  little  children  with  that  fact  before  us.  Only 
as  we  enter  into  their  experience  and  only  as  we  understand  their 
experience  and  get  down  to  their  point  of  view  can  we  really  teach 
little  children.  Every  lesson,  it  is  said,  must  be  threefold  in  its 
character,  and  the  remark  holds  good  in  reference  to  leaching  the 
older,  as  well  as  the  younger,  child.  First,  it  must  appeal  to  the 
intellect ;  second,  it  must  appeal  to  the  understanding,  and  third,  it 
must  appeal  to  the  part  of  us  which  we  term  our  feelings  and  our 
desires,  for  in  every  lesson  we  must  arouse  in  every  child  the  wish  to 
be  just  such  a  beautiful  character  as  that  which  we  are  presenting  to 
it.  Fourthly,  the  best  thing  perhaps  of  all,  there  must  be  brought 
home  to  them  the  doing  part,  the  actualising  of  our  teaching. 

Much  of  our  lesson  work  in  all  our  schools  is  lost  because 
we  simply  appeal  to  intellect ;  i.e.  we  arouse  the  desire  to  do,  but 
omit  to  give  the  opportunity  for  doing.  Let  us,  therefore,  remember 
to  have  in  the  plan  of  every  lesson  for  little  children,  those  four 
things. 

In  closing,  I  want  to  give  a  little  illustration  of  these  principles  I 
have  been  endeavouring  to  present  before  you.  Last  fall,  we  all,  I 
presume,  gave  a  lesson  upon  Paul  at  Corinth.     Paul  was  at  Corinth 


112  World's  Third 

and  he  had  two  new  converts ;  and  the  Golden  Text  was  about  building 
upon  the  True  Foundation. 

I  remembered  that  I  was  to  begin  with  something  that  a  child 
understood ;  and  I  thought,  "  Oh,  this  is  easy,  as  the  Golden  Text  is 
about  building."  But  at  first  I  made  a  mistake  as  to  the  way  in 
which  I  should  teach  the  lesson,  I  thought  of  taking  a  building 
showing  how  builders  laid  the  foundation,  and  then  building  from  that. 
But  on  reflection,  I  said :  "  That  won't  do.  It  is  something  out- 
ward, visible,  which  appeals  to  them ;  but  it  does  not  come  near  the 
central  thought  of  the  Lesson.  There  is  the  text  itself,  they  will 
understand  that,  and  I  will  teach  it  straight  off."  So  I  began  with  the 
question,  "  Why  is  Paul  there  ?  Did  he  not  go  there  to  preach 
the  Gospel  ?  Why,  then,  is  he  tent-making  ?  Had  he  not  better  have 
been  out  preaching  to  the  people  ?  And  here  he  is  making  tents. 
Why  ?  It  is  because  this  is  the  thing  God  has  given  him  to  do.  And 
how  does  he  do  it  ?  In  the  very  best  way  he  can  do  it,  because  God 
is  with  him  and  helps  him."  I  therefore  said  the  word- thought  for 
children  is,  "  Hard  things  are  made  easy  with  Jesus's  help." 

I  remembered  something  else.  I  wanted  to  get  through  individual 
experience,  I  wanted  to  get  right  down  to  the  hard  things  they  had 
to  do  themselves.  So  I  said,  "  I  worider  whether  any  one  of  you  has 
ever  a  hard  thing  to  do."  Every  child  raised  himself  or  herself.  One 
little  girl  rose  from  her  seat  and  said  emphatically,  "  I  have  a  hard 
thing  to  do  at  home."  What  is  it  ?  I  asked.  "  I  have  to  dry  the  dishes, 
and  I  hate  it "  (laughter).  But  I  quickly  said,  "  That  was  a  hard 
thing.  I  have  got  a  story  about  some  one  who  had  hard  things  to  do, 
but  he  had  a  helper."  And  every  child  that  had  a  hard  thing  to  do 
instantly  wanted  to  know  about  the  helper. 

As  I  unfolded  the  story  of  Paul  making  tents  and  showed  how  he 
did  it  in  the  best  way,  and  that  there  was  always  with  him  One  who 
was  always  ready  to  help,  I  folded  a  piece  of  paper  at  an  angle  and 
placed  it  on  the  table  to  represent  a  tent ;  and  said  to  tlie  children, 
"  When  you  go  home,  and  have  a  hard  thing  to  do,  just  fold  a  bit  of 
paper  in  that  way,  put  it  near  where  you  are  doing  the  hard  thing, 
and  call  to  mind  how  God  helped  Paul  in  making  tents,  and  how  He 
will  also  heli3  you  in  doing  the  thing  which  you  find  hard  to  do." 

The  next  Sunday  the  children  came,  as  they  always  do  come,  to 
give  us  their  experience  of  the  week ;  and  the  little  girl,  who  found 
drying  dishes  a  Jiard  thing,  said,  "  Oh,  I  have  had  such  a  hard  time." 
I  said,  "What  is  the  matter?"  "Oh,"  slie  answered,  "  those  dishes. 
You  know  before  I  did  not  have  to  dry  them  every  time,  and  this 
week  I  had  to  dry  them  every  single  time."  Then  she  quickly  added, 
" I  made  a  tent,  and  where  do  you  think  I  put  it ? "  "I  do  not 
know,"  I  replied.  "  I  put  it,"  she  said,  "  on  the  parlour  mantelpiece ; 
but  it  did  not  work.  Then  I  put  it  on  the  kitchen  mantelpiece  and 
it  helped  me  so  much.     I  could  see  it  while  I  dried  the  dishes." 

A  short  time  after  that,  in  speakiug  and  talking  about  another 
lesson,  and  using  a  different  illustration,  I  asked  the  children  this 


Sunday  School  Convention.  11^ 

queStioti.  How  is  it  that  Paul  as  a  stranger— here  lie  is  with  people 
who  do  not  know  him — says,  as  soon  as  he  comes  amongst  them,  "  I 
have  a  very  dear  Friend  and  I  have  come  a  long  way  to  tell  you  about 
Him."  Many  of  the  children  rose  and  said,  "  We  want  to  know  about 
this  friend  too."  All  at  once  a  little  child,  with  such  surprise  in  her 
voice,  said,  "  Why,  Paul  was  honest !  "  I  replied,  "  Paul  was  honest, 
certainly."  I  did  not  understand.  "  Why,"  said  the  little  one— who 
had  taken  the  idea  of  the  former  lesson  and  worked  the  details  out 
for  herself—"  Don't  you  think  that  Paul  made  tents  out  of  the  very 
best  cloth."  I  had  not  said  that.  "  And,"  she  went  on,  "  that  he 
made  the  stitches  very  fine  and  close  ? "  I  had  not  said  that  either. 
A  lesson  came  to  me  from  the  little  child.  From  her  I  learned: 
•'Paul  did  not  have  weak  places  in  his  tents,  because  he  made  them 
in  the  very  best  way.  The  people  knew  they  were  good  tents,  because 
they  were  Paul's  tents;  so  that  when  he  told  the  people  about  his 
Friend,  they,  of  course,  believed  him." 

As  teachers  we  need  development  in  every  direction.  We  need  to 
study  the  principles  of  teaching.  We  need  to  study  the  Bible.  We 
need  to  study  the  children.  Let  us  be  true  teachers  as  we  stand 
before  our  classes,  and  as  we  may  be  in  other  ways ;  and  let  us  be 
true  to  ourselves.    (Cheers.) 


QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS  ON  PRIMARY  WORK. 

Mrs.  W.  J.  Semelkoth  (Primary  Editor  of  the  'International 
Evangel;  of  St.  Louis,  U.S.A.).— I  have  had  several  questions  sent 
up,  but  have  not  had  a  moment  to  look  at  them  before  I  answer  them. 
I  should,  however,  like  to  know  what  proportion  of  this  assembly 
consists  of  Primary  teachers,  or  as  you  in  England  would  say.  Infant 
class  teachers.  Please  stund  up  all  who  are  Infant  class  or  Primary 
school  teachers  ? 

About  twenty-five  delegates  rose  in  their  places. 

Mrs.  Semelkoth.— How  many  of  those  who  stood  have  a  graded 
Primary  department  separating  the  infants  from  the  older  children  ? 

Two  or  three  rose. 

Mrs.  Semelkoth.- Will  those  rise  who  have,  with  one  teacher,  a 
class,  that  is  not  subdivided,  for  Primary  instruction  ? 

Two  or  three  stood. 

Mrs.  Semelkoth.— The  first  question  put  into  my  hand  is,  What  is 
sand-map  work  ?  This  is  the  answer :— Sand-map  work  is  a  representa- 
tion  of  the  topography  of  Bible  lands,  modelled  in  moulders'  sand, 
clay,  or  putty  on  a  elightly  inclined  board  3x5  feet  in  size,  painted 
blue,  with  a  raised  edge  two  inches  high  around  the  board.  Fifty 
pounds  of  sand  should  be  used.  It  should  be  kept  moist  in  a  box  and 
kneaded  with  the  hands  as  the  map  is  formed.  Many  teachers  outline 
the  map  on  heavy  cloth  or  canvas  the  size  for  the  board,  painting  the 
cloth  blue  for  all  bodies  of  water,  the  land  brown.     This  outline  la 

I 


114  World's  Third 

then  pinned  to  the  board,  and  the  eand  placed  upon  it,  leaving  the 
bodies  of  water  as  outlined.  CIreen  moss  is  used  for  grass  and  trees, 
tinfoil  for  rivers  and  seas,  strings  for  roads  and  streets,  blocks  for 
houses,  cities  and  so  forth.  For  little  children  under  eight  years  of  age 
the  map  should  be  used  simply  as  a  background,  a  picture  for  the  story ; 
and  no  attempt  should  be  made  to  teach  them  distances,  relations  of 
countries,  or  geography  as  such.  Great  care  should  be  used  in  choice 
of  material.  A  very  few  simple  home-made  objects  made  on  the  map 
aro  far  preferable  to  paper  symbols  of  any  kind,  which  are  out  of 
proportion  to  tlie  map,  and  confuse  the  child  by  the  variety  and 
number  of  them. 

In  exhibiting  the  sand-map,  the  board  should  be  so  tilted  as  to  be 
easily  seen  by  the  children,  without  the  sand  rolling  down.  We 
mostly  use  moulders'  sand  as  being  the  best  for  the  purpose ;  but  if 
that  cannot  be  had,  ordinary  seaside  sand  will  do,  if  mixed  with  clay 
to  make  it  stiff  and  adhesive. 

The  next  question  sent  uj)  is.  When  is  a  Primary  teacher  "  on  time  ?" 
The  answer  is  :  When  she  is  a  half  hour  ahead  of  time.  This  is  the 
teacher's  golden  opportunity  to  welcome  the  new  comers  ;  to  cultivate 
the  timid  ones;  to  quietly  keep  the  child  busy  "helping  teacher," 
and  so  prevent  disorder ;  to  seat  the  children  carefully ;  and  to  get 
into  touch  with  the  home  lives  of  the  children  by  inquiring  about  the 
grandmothers  and  new  baby  sisters  or  brothers. 

The  question  has  also  been  handed  in,  What  to  do  with  the  new 
scholars  when  they  come  ?  The  answer  to  it  is :  Have  a  receiving-class, 
where  they  are  taken  care  of  until  the  teacher  has  time  to  place  them 
in  a  class  according  to  the  child's  age  and  ability.  Have  the  children 
stand,  and  welcome  the  new  scholars  with  their  little  welcome  song, 
in  which  every  new  scholar  is  called  ,by  her  name.  That  gives  the 
new  scholars,  at  the  first  coming,  a  feeling  of  fellowship,  making  the 
stranger  feel  very  much  more  at  home  ;  and  when  she  is  welcomed  in 
this  way,  the  children  are  kinder  and  more  attentive  to  her  in  every 
way. 

A  further  question  sent  up  is :  How  can  we  interest  the  mothers 
in  the  Sunday  school  work ?  To  that  I  answer  :  By  having  a  mothers' 
day,  and  sending  invitations  to  mothers ;  a  parents'  Sunday ;  or  a 
party  for  the  mothers.  When  the  mothers,  that  are  invited,  come  to 
hear  the  lesson  and  see  what  is  really  done,  the  children  are  delighted 
to  have  mother  come  on  that  Sunday.  The  mothers'  meetings  in 
connection  with  the  Primary  Union  work  have  been  remarkably 
successful.  The  mothers  were  asked  to  attend  the  weekly  training 
classes  of  teachers.  The  teachers  belonging  to  the  classes  were 
from  all  denominations,  and  they  come  once  a  week  to  study  the 
lesson  and  to  confer  as  to  the  best  way  of  presenting  it.  The  plan 
adopted  is  for  a  Methodist  teacher  to  invite  a  Methodist  mother, 
a  Presbyterian  a  mother  who  is  a  Presbyterian,  and  so  on ;  the 
teacher  being  in  a  class  ready  to  welcome  the  mother  she  has  invited. 
Mothera  brought  into  the  class  in  this  way  have,  in  many  instancee, 


Sunday  School  Convention.  115 

been  led  to  learn  how  to  teach  and  have  thus  helped  in  their  home 
training  of  the  children,  whom  also  they  have  encouraged  to  attend 
school  regularly.  Some  of  the  mothers  learned,  through  attending 
the  classes,  to  become  teachers  in  the  school. 

Another  question,  and  a  very  simple  one  is :  How  do  you  keep 
order  in  the  Primary  class  ?  In  replying,  I  take  it  for  granted  that 
English  children  are  sometimes  disorderly.  (Laughter  and  hear,  hear.) 
There  are  difl'erent  ideas  as  to  what  should  be  done  with  them.  Some 
teachers  just  straighten  themselves,  as  if  their  whole  idea  is  that 
they  are  generals  and  the  children  little  soldiers.  I  do  not  believe 
you  can  teach  when  the  children  are  uncomfortable.  (Hear,  hear.) 
They  must  be  happy.  You  cannot  bring  a  truth  home  to  a  little 
child,  unless  she  be  blissfully  unconscious  of  herself  and  her  sur- 
roundings. Therefore,  interest  the  children,  and  then  order  will  take 
care  of  itself.     (OJieers.) 

Supposing  it  is  about  Easter  time  and  the  children  are  wearing 
some  new  hats,  some  have  new  fans,  some  parasols ;  and  there  is  a 
number  of  such  things  in  the  children's  hands,  and  there  you  have 
the  cause  of  disorder.  How  can  you  teach  the  children  when  their 
minds  are  set  on  those  things  which  they  have  in  their  hands  ?  You 
will  waste  your  time,  if  not  your  patience,  in  the  attempt.  You  must 
first  remove  everything  that  would  cause  disorder,  but  you  will  have 
to  be  very  careful  how  you  do  it.  If  you  want  to  secure  attention  for 
the  lesson  and  want  to  take  away  a  parasol  from  Susie,  you  must 
not  seize  hold  of  it,  nor  pounce  upon  Johnnie's  hat  in  a  similar 
way. 

In  a  school  in  New  York  I  had  an  experience  I  sliall  never  forget. 
There  was  a  class  very  hard  to  manage.  It  had  long  been  neglected, 
when  I  took  it,  and  was  the  scene  of  tumult.  We  were  doing  very 
nicely  until  one  Sunday — there  must  have  been  a  fire-sale  in  the 
town — every  child  had  a  new  pocket-handkerthief.  Some  kept 
twirling  it  round  their  fingers,  others  rapped  their  fellow-scholars 
with  it,  and  so  on.  I  thought  I  must  get  rid  of  those  troublesome 
handkerchiefs  in  some  way,  before  I  could  teach.  I  must  do  it  in  some 
way.  At  last  I  thought  of  a  plan.  "Children,"  I  said,  "just  hold 
up  your  handkerchiefs."  They  did.  "  Now  put  them  into  your 
pockets.  They  did  that  also.  But  it  would  not  last  long,  I  feared. 
What  should  I  do  next?  I  uplifted  my  heart  to  the  Lord  for 
guidance  :  "  Lord,  what  shall  I  do  ?  "  The  guidance  came.  "  I 
wonder,"  I  said  to  the  children,  "  how  many  of  you  have  handker- 
chiefs " ;  and  out  they  came.  (Laughter.)  They  were  delighted  to 
show  them,  and  began  waving  them  about.  '"Now  fold  them  up 
nicely — this  way,"  showing  them  how.  One  fold.  "  And  this  way  " 
— another  fold.  I  gave  a  quiet  hint  to  my  pianist,  a  hint  which  she 
quite  understood.  At  the  signal,  "Hold  them  up;  one,  two,  three ; 
put  them  into  your  pockets,"  she  began  playing,  and  we  went  riglit 
int )  our  song  and  began  our  lesson,  the  handkerchiefs  troubling  us  no 
more.    (Cheers.) 

'i  2 


116  World's  Third 

That  was  a  very  small  thing,  but  that  was  one  of  the  little  things 
which  the  dear  Lord  suggested  to  me.  You  know  how  much  the 
Lord  made  of  little  things,  and  that  is  one  of  the  little  things  of 
which  much  may  be  made  under  His  guidance. 

The  lesson  that  comes  to  us  this  morning  is  one  connected  with  an 
incident  in  the  life  of  the  old  patriarch  Jacob.  It  seems  a  long  way 
to  go  back,  but  you  remember  his  largo  Primary  class  of  boys. 
(Laughter  and  cheers.)  You  remember  that  Jacob  took  care  of  his 
sheep  and  lambs  and  had  years  and  years'  experience  in  taking  care 
of  them.  And  so  he  knew  just  what  he  was  talking  about,  and  he 
knew  just  how  to  give  us  this  precious  bit  of  advice.  You  remember 
the  story,  Two  brothers  had  quarrelled,  Jacob  went  to  his  uncle  Laban 
and  stayed  with  him  for  so  many  years.  Then  he  came  back  to  his 
own  country  with  flocks  and  herds,  seeking  to  conciliate  his  brother 
Esau.  You  remember  what  Jacob  said,  giving  way  to  his  brother : 
"  Not  so,  not  so  ;  go  thou  before  me  and  I  will  linger  behind,  I  will 
lead  on  softly,  according  to  the  pace  of  the  children,  that  gocth  before 
me."  That  story  carries  its  own  lesson  without  explanation.  We 
must  study  the  little  ones.  We  must  find  out  their  pace.  Let 
them  set  the  pace.  We  will  go  on  softly.  Let  them  take  the  lead. 
(Cheers.)     The  hymn 

"  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 
Our  hearts  in  Christian  love  " 

was  sung,  and    the    session  closed  with    the  pronouncing  of    the 
Benediction. 

Simultaneously  with  the  above  another  meeting  was  held  in  the 
skating  rink  presided  over  by  Mr.  Belsey. 

Blackboards  and  Object  Lessons. 

The  ChaibmaN  :  Our  good  friend  Mr.  Arthur,  of  Glasgow,  who  is 
a  skilful  operator,  has  been  good  enough  to  send  us  these  blackboard 
illustrations  which  you  see  before  you,  and  our  friend  Mr.  Crawford, 
■who  is  the  secretary  of  the  Glasgow  Sunday  School  Union,  will  explain 
them  to  you  that  you  may  understand  Mr.  Arthur's  method  of 
working.  They  are  already  fixed,  and  when  Mr.  Crawford  has  done, 
our  friend  Mr.  Witchell  will  be  ready  with  his  Demonstrations,  and 
then  I  shall  follow  with  mine. 


Paper  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Aethub  (filasgoio),  read  by  Mr.  Crawfoud. 

The  Covering  System. 

To  get  the  full  value  of  Blackboard  Teaching  the  necessity  of 
gradual  development  cannot  be  overlooked.  One  of  the  mala  objects 
of  the  Blackboard  is  to  secure  interest  and  attention,  while  another  is 
to  develop  an  intelligent   and   progressive   appreciation   of  what  ia 


Sunday  School  Convention.  117 

being  taught.  To  draw  rapidly  and  efficiently  before  an  audience  is 
not  an  easy  accomplishment.  It  needs  an  artist  to  do  it,  and  where 
one  succeeds  a  dozen  would  fail.  It  is  a  much  easier  task  to  prepare 
a  lesson  beforehand,  with  quiet  opportunities  of  correction  and  adjust- 
ment, and  in  this  the  dozen  can  succeed.  The  disadvantages  however 
of  such  a  lesson,  if  treated  in  the  usual  way,  are  very  great.  The 
attention  may  be  secured  at  first  by  the  illustrations,  but  as  there  is  no 
development,  interest  soon  flags,  and  the  lesson,  instead  of  reaching 
its  climax  at  the  close,  is  apt  to  have  its  climax  at  the  beginning  and 
taper  off  in  interest  as  it  proceeds. 

"  Necessity  "  in  this,  as  in  all  else,  "  is  the  Mother  of  Invention." 
Believing  with  Lord  Tennyson  in  "  Enoch  Arden  "  that — 

"Things  seen  are  mightier  than  things  heard," 

I  have  for  years  been  an  ardent  user  of  the  Blackboard,  but  the 
necessity  of  development  in  its  use  conflicted  very  strongly  with  the 
inadequacy  of  my  artistic  powers.  The  "  Uncovering  Lesson  "  was  my 
way  out  of  the  difiSculty.  By  quietly  preparing  at  home,  or  in  the 
class  room,  I  could  alter  a  refractory  S  into  proper  shape  by  a  little 
manipulation,  or  safely  transform  into  a  horse  what  might  have  been 
mistaken  for  a  cow,  by  aid  of  the  touching  up  so  necessary  to  a 
moderate  draughtsman.  Then  by  little  strips  of  black  paper  lightly 
fixed  to  the  board  by  the  familiar  domestic  black  pin,  the  various  parts 
of  the  lesson  are  covered  up.  The  board  is  placed  before  the  audience, 
witli  only  a  text  or  part  of  the  lesson  visible.  Bit  by  bit  the  teaching 
is  developed ;  as  the  different  points  are  uncovered,  interest  is  sus- 
'tained  in  the  wonder  of  what  is  to  come  next,  and  the  climax  is  reached 
at  its  proper  place,  when  all  is  disclosed  at  the  end  of  the  lesson.  By 
this  means  too  the  speaker  is  spared  all  anxiety  as  to  his  draughts- 
manship, and  can  correspondingly  devote  all  his  powers  to  the  spoken 
part  of  his  discourse.  While,  further,  if  he  have  no  artistic  gift,  he 
can,  by  the  collaboration  of  a  drawing  friend,  speak  to  such  a  black- 
board lesson,  even  though  the  drawing  were  prepared  by  another. 
Perhaps  the  most  successful  Blackboard  work  done  in  Glasgow  is 
that  carried  on  for  years  at  the  meeting  of  our  poor  Children's 
Sabbath  Afternoon  Dinner,  where  two  contribute  to  the  address — 
one  by  his  consecrated  chalk,  the  other  by  his  equally  consecrated 
words. 

With  these  preliminary  and  explanatory  remarks,  I  shall  now  pro- 
ceed, by  aid  of  the  kind  friend  who  is  so  considerately  supplying  my 
place  in  absence,  to  put  before  you  three  illustrations  of  the  Uncover- 
ing system.  - 

It  may  be  stated  that  Mr.  Crawford  exhibited  pictures  already  drawn 
on  stiff  paper  or  painted  upon  American  cloth,  parts  of  which — such  as 
texts  of  Scripture  and  other  wording,  rays  of  light  from  a  lighthouse, 
and  so  on— were  covered  with  paper  or  cloth  of  the  same  colour  as  the 
background,  and  fastened  in  place,  and  that  these  were  torn  off  and 
thrown  aside  as  the  lesson  proceeded, 


118  World's  Third 

[It  is  obviously  useless  to  present  in  a  report  the  practical  lessons 
which  Mr.  Arthur  here  demonstrated  to  the  gathering  without  the 
blackboard  illustrations,  which  alone  would  give  suggestion.] 

May  I  say  two  things  in  conclusion.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  carry 
your  Blackboard  lessons  further  than  the  teaching  of  children.  Some 
years  ago  it  was  my  privilege  to  address  a  large  gathering  of  mature 
Sabbath  school  teachers  on  the  subject  of  Blackboards.  Their  interest 
proved  to  me  that  the  Board  could  find  a  place  in  adult  meetings, 
especially  when  I  saw  the  principal  of  Edinburgh  University  as 
interested  in  the  method  as  any  youngster.  Since  then  I  have  used 
it  frequently  in  all  kinds  of  meetings. 

Next,  don't  depend  on  the  Board.  It  is  only  a  means.  The  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  alone  can  do  the  work,  and  only  os  He  is  given  His 
right  place  in  illustration  or  in  the  si>oken  word,  can  there  be  real 
blessing  among  those  who  are  addressed,  bo  they  young  or  old. 


SPECIMEN  LESSON  TO  A  PKIMAEY  OR  INFANT  CLASS. 
By  Miss  Keywobth. 

Mr.  Jas.  Bailey  (Southlands  Training  Colleije,  Battersea),  who 
introduced  Miss  Keyworth,  said: 

It  is  a  most  happy  commencement  of  the  proceedings  of  this  part  of 
the  programme  to-day  that  we  have  had  so  delightful  and  ingenious  an 
application  of  the  blackboard  exercise  such  as  wo  have  just  listened 
to.  I  shall  not,  of  course,  make  any  remarks  on  that  head.  I  want, 
however,  to  say  a  word  or  two  in  regard  to  the  lesson  we  are  to  have, 
and  in  the  first  place  as  to  tho  difficulties  of  it.  The  first  difficulty  is 
that  of  enabling  everybody  to  hear,  and  the  next — which  is  hardly 
less — is  that  everybody  should  see.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to 
arrange  matters  so  that  both  the  face  of  tho  teacher  and  the  faces  of 
the  children  shall  be  seen  by  the  audience.  It  can  only  be  a  sort  of 
compromise  that  I  would  ask  my  friend  Miss  Keyworth,  at  the  risk 
of  not  having  so  able  a  command  of  the  class  as  she  would  if  she 
stood  with  her  back  to  the  audience,  to  stand  at  the  side  so  that  the 
difficulty  shall  be  as  well  overcome  as  the  circumstances  admit  of. 
Secondly,  as  to  the  lesson  itself.  Miss  Keyworth  is  anxious  that  I 
should  explain  to  you  that  she  did  not  put  herself  forward  in  any  way 
as  presenting  to  you  a  novel  and  superior  teaching,  but  we  applied  in 
our  difficulty  to  several  teachers,  but  they  all  shrank  from  what  is 
really  an  ordeal  to  a  lady,  the  giving  of  a  ksson  of  this  sort  in  a  room 
so  large  and  to  an  audience  so  numerous.  At  our  very  earnest  request 
Miss  Keyworth  has  kindly  come  to  show  you  an  ordinary  lesson,  a 
lesson  which  experience  has  shown  to  be  of  value.  I  believe  you  will 
see  evidence  that  both  experience  and  skill  are  displayed  in  our 
Board  school  and  other  Day  school  arrangements  for  the  Scripture 


Sunday  School  Convention.  119 

teaching  of  children,  and  we  hope  it  will  convey  to  you  some  idea  at 
least  of  how  the  application  of  it  may  be  made  successful  and  satis- 
factory in  your  Suiiday  school  teaching.  If  anything  occurs  after 
that  I  have  to  say  a  word  or  two  in-explanation,  I  shall  be  glad  to  do 
it ;  but  wo  will  just  proceed  with  the  coming  lesson. 

Miss  Keyworth  then  took  a  class  of  tweuty  children,  boys  and 
girls,  from  the  ages  of  four  or  five  up  to  ten  or  eleven,  most  of  them 
being  of  the  younger  ages,  through  the  International  lesson  for  the 
following  afternoon,  Elijah  upon  Mount  Carmel,  1  Kings  xviii.  30-39. 
She  said  she  had  expected  to  find  the  children  rather  older,  and  once 
or  twice  during  the  lesson  regretted  the  absence  of  a  blackboard. 
Then  in  graphic  language  she  told  the  children  how  the  people  had 
been  worshipping  idols  so  long  that  they  had  forgotten  who  the  true 
God  was.  Elijah  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  show  them  the  power 
of  Jehovah.  She  described  the  api^earance  and  conduct  of  the 
prophets  of  Baal  and  of  Elijah,  the  building  of  the  altar,  and  the 
various  incidents  that  mark  the  passage,  drawing  from  the  class  by 
questions  the  meaning  of  an  altar  and  its  purpose,  and  noting  the 
surroundings,  such  as  the  pillars  supporting  the  room,  its  height,  the 
numbers  of  the  audience,  and  so  on,  as  illustrations,  and  to  give  an 
idea  of  the  various  points  she  wished  to  impress  upon  them.  For 
instance  she  drew  an  imaginary  trench  around  the  platform  on 
which  the  class  were  seated  and  by  questions  as  to  how  '"  mother 
lights  the  fire"  brought  home  clearly  to  their  infantile  m'nds  how 
great  was  the  faith  of  the  prophet  in  causing  the  water  to  be  poured 
over  the  sacrifice  and  the  woud,  and  how  full  was  the  answer  which 
was  vouchsafed.  She  also  showed  how  the  flooding  in  water  left  no 
room  for  any  suggestion  of  trickery  on  the  part  of  the  prophet,  and 
told  them  that  it  has  been  said  tliat  the  priests  of  Baal  had  one  of 
their  number  concealed  beneath  their  altar  who  at  the  right  moment 
was  to  set  fire  to  the  wood  thereon,  but  that  he  was  by  accident 
suflbcated.  So  adopting  the  pictorial  method  of  treating  the  subject 
in  homely  anecdote,  by  question  and  answer,  and  by  illustration,  she 
kept  the  close  attention  of  the  class  and  of  the  audience,  and  brought 
out  the  lesson  that  the  side  upon  which  Elijah  had  placed  himself  was 
the  strongest,  and  tliat  it  is  to  God  we  must  trust  and  to  no  other. 

The  Chairman  :  Mr.  Witchell  is  a  well-known  operator  on  the 
blackboard  and  a  fellow-worker.  He  has  agreed  just  to  give  you 
some  notion  of  the  system  he  adopts. 


Blackboard  Demonstrations. 

Mr.  Witchell  (London). — I  want  to  be  in  the  position  of  a  very 
ordinary  teacher,  one  of  those  teachers  who  say  that  they  cannot  do 
anything  on  the  blackboard.  I  believe  that  where  there  is  a  will 
there  is  a  way,  and  I  want  to  humbly  submit  to  you  a  way  of  illustrat- 
ing next  Sunday's  lesson  even  if  you  cannot  draw. 


120  World's  Third 

Now  in  giving  this  lesson  I  should  ask  a  class  of  children  or  tell  them 
tirst  of  all  that  we  are  going  to  talk  about  two  altars.  Of  course  you 
need  to  explain  what  these  two  altars  mean.  And  I  should  put  down 
just  tlieso  words  T.  H.  E.  It  is  very  possible  that  your  class  might 
do  tlie  same,  or  a  scholar  in  the  school  might  write  that  T  H  E  and  then 
T  W  O  uiuleineath.  Of  course  all  the  little  children  could  spell  tliat. 
And  then  the  word  ALTARS  underneath— THE  TWO  ALTARS. 
Tlien  I  sbould  just  draw  the  two  altars  so  (drawing  on  board).  You 
will  see  that  is  just  a  rough  outline  of  an  altar.  I  am  doing  it  very 
roughly,  the  rougher  the  better ;  for  children,  you  know,  are  accustomed 
to  rough  drawing.  When  they  see  a  circle  and  another  and  two  or 
three  straiglit  strokes  they  know  what  it  means.  It  is  their  representa- 
tion of  a  man.  It  is  clear  enough  to  them.  Now  let  us  draw  just  tho 
same  altar  again  (drawing  it).  They  were  not  so  very  largo  and  they 
were  roughly  built.     That  is  roughly  built. 

Then  I  should  explain  that  one  altar  was  put  up  FOR  GOD 
(writing  it  over  the  altar),  and  this  one  FOR  BAAL  (writing  over  the 
altar).  Of  course  we  should  question  as  to  who  Baal  was,  the  repre- 
sentative or  special  idol  who  was  worshipped  at  that  time;  and  then  I 
should  question  as  wo  go  on,  and  put  it  down  as  I  proceeded,  to  that 
they  should  gradually  see  the  development,  and  afterwards  see  tho 
Icir^son  I  wanted  to  teach.  I  should  tell  them  about  the  chullengo 
which  was  so  ably  described  just  now,  and  question  "  How  long  are 
you  going  to  be  on  Baal's  side  ?  You  cannot  be  on  Baal's  side  and  on 
the  side  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You  must  choose  a  side.  How 
long  will  ye  halt  betweeu  two  opinions?"  I  should  write  on  either 
side  of  the  word  TWO,  so  as  to  make  it.  How  long  will  ye  halt 
between  TWO  opinions  ?  Then  I  should  describe  the  wonderful  story 
of  the  answer  brought  by  tire,  and  you  know  the  people  declared  their 
opinion  that  "  The  Lord  He  is  God."  And  that  gives  us  our  golden 
text  (writing  it  upon  the  blackboard). 

Now,  having  gone  tlirougli  the  lesson,  I  should  suggest  that  this 
might  be  brought  home  to  our  scholars'  hearts,  and  I  would  do  that  in 
this  way.  I  would  say  that  we  too  must  offer  a  sacrifice — that  is,  we 
must  give  our  lives,  we  must  give  our  thoughts  and  our  desires  to  one 
or  tiic  other.  We  cannot  serve  God  and  serve  Mammon.  Well,  now, 
what  is  the  seat  of  life  ?  Tlie  heart,  and  so  I  should  draw  the  outline 
of  a  heart  around  each  altar.  You  will  understand  by  putting  that 
around  each  altar  you  have  a  picture  brought  down  to  the  little  ones 
very  olearly,  and  we  ask  "  Is  it  for  God  ?  Is  it  for  Baal  ?  "  Of  course 
we  speak  of  Baal  and  we  explain.  We  show  that  Baal  represents 
tills  world,  and  the  worship  of  sin,  the  worship  of  idols,  the  worship 
of  pleasure,  the  worshij)  of  anything  that  is  against  God.  God  on 
the  one  side,  the  world  on  the  other. 

Now  we  come  to  this.  If  the  Lord  bo  God  follow  Him.  Show 
your  scholars  that  the  Lord  He  is  God ;  and  therefore  our  lesson  will 
close  with  this  FOLLOW  HIM.  I  think  we  could  all  draw  this, 
friepdg. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  121 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  :  Well,  now,  so  far  as  the  work  I  want  to  show 
you  is  concerned  it  just  rests  on  this  principle  of  how  to  use  the 
blackboard  Sunday  by  Sunday  for  the  teaching  of  our  International 
lesson.  And  I  want  just  to  show  you,  by  the  little  sketches  prepared 
here  for  next  Sunday's  lesson,  how  by  the  lielp  of  coloured  chalks 
any  one  with  very  slender  powers  as  a  draughtsman  may  produce  a 
lesson  which  will  help  the  children  to  grasp  the  Scripture  truths  we 
are  trying  to  teach. 

Here  is  a  little  sketcli  for  the  ordinary  lesson  of  next  Sunday.  I 
need  not  go  through  the  lesson,  because  that  has  been  already  so  ably 
done  by  the  lady  who  took  those  children  through  it.  But  in  order 
that  the  children  may  grasp  the  lesson  I  draw  the  two  altars,  one  with 
a  B  over  it  and  other  with  J,  Baal  and  Jehovah.  Presently  we  shall, 
use  these  two  altars  on  the  other  half  of  the  board.  It  would  have  been 
infinitely  easier  for  the  lady  who  taught  the  lesson  if  she  could  have 
pointed  to  the  altar  with  the  bullock  cut  up  upon  it  and  with  the 
water  around,  as  we  have  it  here.  Under  the  first  two  altars  I  write 
the  word  "  waiting."  Then  on  the  other  section  of  the  board  you  have 
two  altars  again,  and  underneath  the  word  "  answer."  See  how  God 
by  a  lightning  flash  (indicated  in  drawing)  from  above  sends  the 
answer  and  convinces  that  "  the  Lord  He  is  God." 

A  very  capital  way  of  impressing  the  lesson  on  the  children's  mind 
is  to  have  a  verse  containing  the  point  of  the  lesson  put  on  the  board, 
and  that  with  some  of  the  letters  left  out,  merely  the  first  letter  and 
the  last  of  certain  words  being  given  and  leaving  the  children  to  guess 
the  words.  They  always  do  it,  and  it  amuses  and  interests  them,  and 
they  feel  a  pleasure  in  putting  the  verse  together  with  teacher.  In 
this  case  I  write  the  verse  : — 

On  C:irmel's  height  Elijah's  prayer 
Brought  down  the  wondrous  fire. 
Thus,  Lord,  may  Thy  good  Spirit's  flame 
My  waiting  heart  inspire. 

Very  often,  repeating  this  same  lesson,  I  have  had  two  other 
sketches  in  order  to  illustrate  the  spiritual  teaching.  First  of  all,  I 
have  had  the  open  grave  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  showing  how  God 
sent  down  the  answer  and  restored  life  to  that  great  waiting  Sacrifice. 
And  I  have  had  sometimes  a  head  with  the  cloven  tongue  resting 
upon  it  to  show  how  the  Lord  sent  down  the  Pentecostal  fire  on  His 
waiting  servants.  And  so  we  can  give  the  spiritual  application  of  the 
Old  Testament  lesson  by  using  sketches,  and  so  enforcing  it  upon  the 
children's  minds. 

The  blackboard  helps  us  to  look  at  the  lesson  and  to  get  the 
children  thoroughly  to  repeat  the  words  and  remember  the  truths  you 
have  taught  them. 

We  will  take  the  monthly  review  (showing  picture).  At  the  end 
of  the  month  you  want  to  get  the  children  to  fecall  the  facts  and  ths 


122  World's  Thml 

truths  that  have  been  tati^ht  them.  And  the  way  in  whicli  the 
blackboard  helps  to  do  it  is  by  first  of  all  putting  on  the  initial  letters 
of  the  lesson  titles  "  E.  C"  "  Elijah  at  Carmel,"  &c.,  i)ointing  out  the 
meaning.  Then  you  put  the  first  two  words  of  the  golden  text,  and 
you  get  the  children  with  the  help  of  these  two  first  words  to  recall 
the  golden  text  and  give  it.  Then  I  get  a  little  picture  in  the 
centre  of  each  of  the  squares  set  apart  for  the  different  Sundays 
reminding  them  of  the  central  fact  of  the  lesson.  (For  the  following 
Sunday  the  sketch  represented  the  two  altars  with  a  figure  of  Elijah 
raising  his  hands  to  heaven.  Over  the  sketch  were  the  letters  E  C, 
and  beneatli  the  words  "  and  when."  Similar  little  suggestive 
pictures  and  first  words  were  supplied  for  each  of  the  other  four 
Sundays.)  Then,  having  thoroughly  questioued  them  upon  the  facts 
of  these  five  lessons,  I  put  together  a  little  verse  which  will  help 
tliem  to  keep  in  their  minds  tlie  lessons  of  the  month.  In  this  case 
it  is — 

We've  seen  a  king  his  kingdom  lose 

And  traced  Elijah's  course, 
His  faith  aud  flight  and  efforts  brave 

God's  honour  to  enforce. 

They  sing  that  over,  of  course  filling  in  the  blanks  left  as  I  have 
already  said.     That  deals  with  the  five  lessons  of  tlie  month. 

Then  we  come  to  the  quarterly  review. 

Major  Wynne  :  Where  do  you  get  these  verses  from,  Mr.  Belsey  ? 

The  Chairman  tapped  his  forehead  significantly.  You  can  all  do 
it  if  you  try.  If  you  don't  happen  to  find  a  little  verse,  if  you  are  not 
able  to  make  verses,  you  may  put  down  the  four  or  five  lesson-truths 
just  in  prose  one  under  the  other.  You  can  just  write  down  on  the 
blackboard  the  truth  of  each  lesson  without  making  the  lines  rhyme. 
Now  you  come  to  the  quarterly  review,  when  perhaps  the  blackboard 
is  of  the  greatest  possible  value.  The  idea  is  that  the  board  is  in  a 
revolving  frame,  so  that  you  can  use  both  sides  without  inconvenience. 
That  is  easily  done.  The  board  may  be  j^laced  eitlier  on  a  pillar  or 
in  a  frame,  so  that  you  can  turn  it  round  and  use  both  sides.  If  you 
will  fancy  these  two  boards  are  just  one  fixed  in  a  frame  you  will  be 
able  to  follow  the  idea  of  the  quarterly  review. 

You  first  of  all  put  down  the  initial  letters  to  all  lessons,  thus  W.'C. 
(woman  of  Cana),  K.  J.  (Resurrection  of  Jesus),  and  so  on,  saying  the 
words.  Then  you  put  opposite  each  one  of  these  titles  the  first  two 
words  of  the  golden  text — I  need  not  give  them,  because  you  will 
remember  the  last  quarter's.  Then  you  coiue  to  the  problem  of  hpw 
to  connect  all  these  twelve  lessons  and  make  them  a  body  of  truth 
to  be  thought  of  all  together.  You  have  been  looking  at  them 
individually  in  your  monthly  review.  You  merely  examined  the 
children  on  the  individual  lesson.  Now  you  want  to  get  them  further. 
It  is   a  marvellous  tiling  that  golden  text  for  Review  Sunday.      I 


Sunday  School  Convention.  123 

never  liiiew  it  fail  me  yet.  It  is  a  kind  of  string  on  ■which  yoii  can 
thread  these  lessons  and  bind  them  like  a  necklace  around  the 
children's  memory. 

That  swing  board  will  enable  you  to  do  what  is  most  desirable. 
You  can  just  confirm  in  the  children's  memory  these  lessons  by 
turning  the  board  round  and  just  giving  them  the  title,  and  making 
them  give  you  the  golden  text  without  seeing  the  words,  then  giving 
tiiem  a  golden  text  and  saying,  "  What  lesson  does  this  belong  to  ?  " 
And  so  you  can  just  get  the  title  and  the  Scripture  verses  tlioroughly 
remembered  and  given.  The  children  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
teaching,  the  whole  church  being  crowded,  have  given  them  in  one 
voice. 

Let  us  try  last  quarter.  What  is  the  golden  text  for  Review 
Sunday?  "Keep  yourself  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life."  I  write  the  string  review 
verse  on  the  blackboard,  breaking  it  into  its  pieces.  Sometimes  it 
will  break  into  four  pieces,  or  you  may  only  get  two.  To-day  it 
naturally  breaks  into  these  three :  Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of 
God — looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — unto  eternal 
life.  I  look  at  my  twelve  lessons,  and  I  say,  how  do  these  lessons  all 
arrange  themselves  on  that  thread?  First  of  all  I  say,  '"What 
lessons  have  been  teaching  the  children  how  to  keep  themselves  in 
the  love  of  God,"  and  I  take  my  lesson  and  say,  "  He  will  not  love  me 
if  I  do  not  forgive.  My  lesson  about  'forgiveness'  teaches  I  must 
forgive."  "  The  Marriage  Feast."  If  I  want  to  make  myself  happy  in 
His  love  I  must  be  clothed  in  the  garments  of  the  Saviour's  righteous- 
ness, or  else  I  shall  not  be  able  to  sit  down  at  the  banquet  of 
eternal  love.  I  must  be  clothed,  I  must  be  "  watchful " — I  have  drawn 
a  man  in  the  doorway  watching  for  his  master.  I  must  be  watchful 
against  sin,  against  evil.  I  must  remember  the  "  Last  Judgment," 
seeing  how  I  can  help  others.  TJien  the  "  Lord's  Supper."  If  I  attend 
that  rite  which  our  Lord  prescribed  that  will  help  to  keep  me  in  the 
love  of  God.  And  so  these  five  will  show  me  how  we  are  to  keep 
ourselves  in  the  love  of  God. 

We  come  back  to  the  second  division.  "  Looking  for  the  mercy — 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  I  find  there  are  three  lessons  that  beau- 
tifully unfold  that  section  of  the  golden  text.  Here  is  the  "  woman  of 
Cana  "  following  the  Lord  and  His  disciples,  crying  for  mercy  and 
finding  it,  although  at  first  He  seemed  to  reject  her  suit.  Then  we 
see  "  Jesus  condemned,"  bearing  all  the  punishment  of  sin.  Why  ? 
Because  His  heart  overflowed  with  mercy  and  the  desire  to  save  poor 
sinners  who,  realising  their  sins,  seek  Him  as  the  fount  of  mercy 
which  can  never  run  dry.  Then  when  I  see  Him  on  the  cross, 
"  crucified,"  I  see  the  death  of  mercy,  I  see  the  lowest  point  to  which 
His  love  and  goodness  shall  lead  Him,  and  so  with  this  lesson  I 
can  see  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  will  try  with  the 
help  of  God  to  be  kept  by  His  grace. 

We  must  say  a  word  about  that  keeping  yourself.     While  I  am 


12-4  World's  Third 

just  feeling  it  is  my  duty  to  keep  myself  in  His  Love,  if  I  do 
liroak  down,  if  here  and  there  I  trip,  what  a  blessed  thought  I  can 
go  to  the  Saviour,  whose  mercy  abounds  to  poor  sinners,  and  ask  Him 
to  restore  my  soul.  So  that  my  lesson  shows  me  I  can  not  only  keep 
myself  in  the  love  of  God,  but  if  I  find  I  am  falling  I  can  come 
again  to  the  fountain  opened  and  find  mercy  and  love. 

Then  eternal  life.  That  is  the  glorious  end.  And  here  I  have  two 
lessons,  "  The  Risen  Lord  "  and  "  The  Resurrection  of  Jesus,"  and  the 
open  grave  of  the  Lord  Jesus  drawn  on  the  blackboard  to  enforce  the 
blessed  truths  we  have  been  teaching.  Here  is  the  tomb  with  the 
stone  rolled  away,  and  behind  it  is  arising  the  glorious  sun.  I  look 
at  that  open  grave,  and  think  that  in  this  grave  I  have  the  hope 
of  everlasting  life.  God  accepted  the  sacrifice  made  for  me. 
He  sent  down  the  life  like  the  fire  on  tlie  altar  and  raised  Jesus 
Christ.  And  as  I  look  at  the  open  grave  I  feel  I  have  the  hope  and 
pledge  and  promise  of  eternal  life.  Then  as  I  think  of  "  the  Trans- 
figuration "  I  feel  something  of  the  glory  of  that  new  life.  I  see  the 
grandeur  in  which  Moses  and  Elias  appeared,  and  something  of  the 
coming  glory  of  that  eternal  life.  Then  as  I  see  "the  triumphal 
entry"  I  think  that  the  Lord  and  His  saints  will  triumph  for  ever. 
We  look  at  the  golden  text  and  see  it  beautifully  linked  in  all  these 
twelve  lessons,  not  like  twelve  windows  side  by  side,  but  all  gathered 
together  in  one  glorious  structure  in  one  building.  We  see  all  this  in 
the  perspective  by  the  help  of  that  review  lesson. 

The  Chairman  :  Our  dear  friend  Mr.  Webbter,  who  has  done  such 
service  to  the  Union  in  the  workhouse  schools,  is  here,  and  he  has  some 
illustrations  you  will  be  glad  to  look  at.     They  are  most  interesting. 

Mr.  A.  W.  Webster  (London) :  Dear  friends,  I  cater  for  the 
teacher  who  has  made  up  his  "mind  long  ago  that  he  can  never  stand 
up  before  a  class  and  do  any  sketching.  The  value  of  eye  teaching 
cannot  be  emphasised  too  much  in  fixing  truth  into  the  child's 
mind.  You  all  have  bills  for  anniversaries,  you  have  newsagents  who 
would  be  glad  to  give  you  a  bundle  of  bills  to  get  them  out  of  their 
way.  Use  the  scissors  and  jjaste.  Here  are  some  words  just  made  by 
cutting  letters  out  of  ordinary  bills,  and  pasting  them  on  paper.  Let  us 
suppose  I  was  going  to  give  a  lesson  on  Prayer.  I  would  cut  the 
letters  out  and  put  them  on  a  blackboard,  remembering  that  the 
gradual  process  of  development  is  of  exceeding  value  in  getting  the 
interest  and  attention  of  children  as  they  proceed.  So  I  put  one 
strip  on  the  blackboard  at  a  time.  I  would  ask  the  children  to  spell 
the  word  prayer  to  begin  with  and  put  it  on  the  board.  Then  I  would 
put  other  words  on  the  board  in  the  same  way  as  I  went  on  to  unfold 
the  lesson  I  wanted  to  teach. 

It  is  of  considerable  importance  that  the  principle  of  association  of 
idea  thould  ever  be  borne  in  mind  with  your  teaching.  Here  is  a 
lesson  on  symbols.  We  will  suppose  we  are  going  to  teach  a  lesson  on 
the  Lord  Our  Redeemer.  You  can  cut  a  cross  out  of  a  piece  of  paper 
like  th^t;  this  (showing  it)  is  the  back  of  a  letter.     Nobody  is  eo  poor 


Sunday  School  Convention.  125 

that  they  cannot  get  a  piece  of  paper  like  that.  Cut  it  out  and 
attach  it  with  pins.  Every  time  a  child  sees  a  cross  he  will  be 
inclined  to  recollect  the  lesson  by  the  association  of  ideas  and  the 
points  you  have  tried  to  fix  in  his  memory.  So  you  go  on.  A 
circle  is  a  symbol  of  perfection,  and  so  on. 

There  are  a  few  things  here,  for  instance,  for  class  purposes.  A 
blackboard  cannot  always  be  found  for  class  purposes.  But  teachers 
who  can't  print,  who  cannot  do  anything  in  the  way  of  drawing,  might 
use  stencil  plates.  Here  is  a  lesson  I  used  in  a  small  meeting  of  a 
Junior  Christian  Endeavour.  I  took  the  word  "  Christ "  as  the  word 
I  was  going  to  speak  upon  and  stencilled  it.  Then  I  wrote  these 
words  with  my  stencil  plates,  "  He  is  mine."  Then  first  of  all  I  got 
the  children  to  remember,  "  He  is  my  inspired  Saviour  and  Teacher," 
and  so  on  (using  stencilled  words).  It  is  something  to  catch  the 
child's  eye  and  something  to  fix  the  truth  in  the  child's  memory. 

I  have  here  a  great  variety  of  things,  small  paper  flags,  for  instance. 
A  good  many  of  you  know  perhaps  sufficient  about  sea-faring  matters 
to  talk  about  the  international  code  of  signals,  and  how  it  is  compara- 
tively easy  to  get  scriptural  facts  to  fit  into  many  of  these  things.  And 
beyond  the  fact  that  the  flags  can  be  used  on  the  blackboard,  I  have 
a  mast  with  string,  and  get  a  boy  to  help  me,  and  I  can  keep  the 
attention  of  the  children  and  fix  the  truth  very  effectually  in  this  way. 
I  will  just  give  you  one  simple  example  of  what  may  be  done — we 
have  not  time  to  go  beyond  an  idea.  Suppose  I  am  going  to  give  an 
address  at  the  Band  of  Hope  or  some  week  night  meeting,  I  would 
take,  say,  the  Union  Jack,  and  instead  of  showing  it  all  at  once  I 
would  make  my  points  in  this  way.  Tlie  Union  Jack  is  a  composition 
of  three  different  flags.  There  is  the  English  flag  of  St.  George, 
the  white  cross  on  a  blue  ground  (pinning  it  upon  the  board).  Then 
comes  the  Scotch  cross  of  St.  Andrew,  and  it  is  very  easy  to  fix  a 
spiritual  truth  out  of  this.  In  order  to  form  the  complete  flag,  of 
course  I  go  into  details.  We  have  simply  to  take  this  cross  and  show 
how  the  flags  of  England  and  Scotland  were  united ;  and  then  when 
Ireland  comes  into  combination  that  forms  the  Union  Jack.  I  will 
only  just  hold  some  of  these  things  up.  They  are  shapes  of  finger- 
posts, gates,  and  so  on,  cut  out  of  cardboard.  I  want  to  show  that  you  can 
give  successful  lessons  this  way  to  half  a  dozen  children  round  your 
knee.  Of  course  I  am  supposing  you  are  not  able  to  do  anything  upon 
the  blackboard.  Then  I  have  a  collection  of  pictures  cut  from  all 
sorts  of  periodicals,  which  I  often  find  very  useful. 

The  Chairman  :  There  were  just  three  omitted  points  in  what  I  was 
Baying.  First  of  all,  I  hope  you  understood  that  as  you  went  from 
picture  to  picture,  you  questioned  in  the  review  exercise  on  these 
particular  lessons,  and  showed  how  they  fitted  on  to  that  particular 
part.  The  next  thing  I  ouglit  to  explain  is  that  you  can  in  an 
orelinary  class  follow  the  same  principle.  You  do  not  want  a  black- 
board, pieces  of  cardboard  will  do  in  its  place.  Here  are  a  number, 
but  I  will  not  detain  you.    This  (showing  one)  was  the  first  black- 


126  World's  Third 

board  lessou  I  ever  gave.  1  wanted  to  teach  the  children  the 
connection  between  faitli  and  works.  I  drew  that  big  tree.  I  said, 
"  What  have  I  drawn?"  I  was  very  much  relieved  when  they  said, 
"  A  tree,  teacher."  I  said,  "  Look  at  the  tree  and  tell  what  these 
are?"  "Boots,  teacher."  Now  mark  the  words  I  wrote  over  them, 
"Faith  Roots."  "What  are  these?"  "Branches  and  Fruits, 
teacher."  Mark  the  words  I  write  over  them,  "  Works  Fruits." 
Then  I  wiped  out  the  upper  part  of  the  tree  and  asked,  "  What 
have  you?"  "Nothing  but  an  ugly  stump, teacher."  Then  I  showed 
them  that  "  faith  roots "  without  "  works  fruits "  is  only  an  ugly 
stump.  Then  I  wiped  out  tlie  roots  and  the  trunk  and  said,  "  What 
have  you  ? "  "  Branches  and  fruit,"  was  the  reply.  "  What  will 
become  of  them  ? "  "  They  will  wither  and  die."  "  Why  ? " 
"Because  they  have  lost  the  roots  and  the  trunk."  "Don't  you 
forget,  there  will  be  no  '  works  fruits  '  which  will  bud  and  blossom 
and  ripen  without '  faith  roots.' "  Thus  the  same  principle  of  eye 
teaching  is  just  as  available  in  a  little  class  of  your  own  as  it  is  in 
the  big  school-room  with  a  large  blackboard.  Mr.  Witchell  has  one 
other  good  idea  which  lie  will  just  put  before  you,  and  then  if  any 
friend  here  has  blackboard  notions  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  tlicm. 

Mr.  Witchell  :  I  am  not  speaking  on  behalf  of  myself,  but  I  got  a 
friend  to  give  an  example  of  what  he  adopts  at  our  London  training 
class,  or  when  you  haven't  a  blackboard  or  even  a  piece  of  paper.  You 
may  not  have  that  (holding  up  a  picture  of  hunds),  but  you  have 
these  (holding  liis  hands  up  with  the  palms  towards  the  audience). 
You  have  five  fingers.  Now  this  friend  writes  Bible  lessons,  and  he 
holds  his  audience  of  young  children  at  the  Sunday  evening  service 
by  these  five  fingers  very  well  indeed,  so  I  understand.  He  takes  a 
word  from  the  lessou  having  five  letters.  He  would  select  from  the 
lesson  for  next  Sunday  the  word  ALTAR.  He  gets  the  children  to 
eay  what  is  an  altar.  "  Now,"  he  says,  "  we  are  going  to  talk  about 
an  altar,  and  that  is  the  text  for  the  lesson.     He  talks  about  a  king. 

"The   king's  name  was ?"     "'A'hab."     " The  next  letter  is  L. 

What  does  that  mean?  'L'  aying  the  altar.  Then  the  next  the 
'  T '  esting  time ;  then  the  next,  '  A  '  nswer  by  fire ;  and  last, 
'  R '  eturning  to  God."  So  having  gone  through  the  lesson,  he  gets 
the  children  to  read  to  him  and  to  answer  questions  connected  with 
the  words  set  apart  for  each  finger.  That  is  one  method  you  can  use 
in  your  class  without  any  blackboard  or  picture.  Here  is  a  black- 
board I  made  myself,  and  I  have  others  here.  It  is  simply  a  piece  of 
paper  stuck  on  cardboard.     I  use  these  for  the  class. 

The  Chairman:  May  I  just  say  one  other  thing.  You  will  find  on 
this  table  almost  endless  specimens  of  blackboard  illustrations  drawn 
by  Mr.  Witchell  from  little  designs  I  have  given  him  from  time  to 
time.  There  are  designs  for  some  hundreds  of  lessons,  blackboard 
designs  for  your  international  lessons.  It  is  just  to  let  you  see  how 
every  lesson  can  be  illustrated  from  the  blackboard,  and  how  you  can 
help  in  ttaching  by  its  means. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  127 


SECOND  DAY— FIFTH  SESSION. 

Wednesday  Afternoon.  • 

JUNIOR  SCHOLAES'  CONCERT. 

In  the  afternoon  a  concert  by  junior  scholars  was  given  on  the 
Handel  Orchestra  of  the  Crystal  Palace  under  the  direction  of  the 
London  Sunday  School  Choir.  The  immense  space  was  lighted  by 
the  bright  faces  of  over  5000  happy  Sunday  school  children  who, 
conducted  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Rowley,  sang  very  sweetly  a  programme  of 
part  songs  and  choruses  which  very  effectively  showed  that  amongst 
its  other  good  works  the  Sunday  sehool  was  a  very  efficient  training 
ground  in  the  matter  of  vocal  music.  The  music  was  very  carefully 
rendered  and  great  attention  was  given  to  the  conductor  by  the 
children.  The  most  popular  item  of  the  programme  proved  to  be 
Challenor's  "  Sweetly  Sing  the  Children,"  which  was  encored.  The 
rendering  of  "  The  Village  Blacksmith "  was  also  nearly  perfect. 
The  singing  of  "  White  Sails "  (A.  L.  Cowley)  was  also  most 
excellent,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  composer,  who  was 
present.  Then  there  were  the  customary  but  always  fresh,  quaint 
and  picturesque  movements  in  unison  of  fingers  and  programmes, 
and  an  ''Exclamation  Song"  with  actions  which  met  with  great 
favour.  Mr.  .1.  Rowley  was  the  conductor,  and  Mr.  W.  F.  Freeman 
presided  at  the  organ. 

A  feature  of  the  concert  was  the  arrival  of  the  Marquis  of  North- 
ampton and  a  number  of  the  principal  delegates  attending  the 
concert,  who  were  received  with  great  cheering  and  the  waving  of 
handkerchiefs,  whilst  the  flags  of  America,  Germany,  France  and 
other  nations  represented  were  waved  from  the  centre  of  the  platform. 
The  waving  of  the  flags  also  accompanied  the  hymn  "Blest  be  the 
tie  that  binds,"  which  was  then  sung  by  the  choir  and  the  entire 
gathering.  ^ 

SENIOR  SCHOLARS'  CONCERT. 

Later  in  the  afternoon  the  Handel  Orchestra  was  again  occupied  by 
4000  senior  scholars  and  adults,  and  by  the  Crystal  Palace  and 
London  Sunday  School  Clioir  orchestra  who  accompanied.  Mr.  George 
Merritt  and  Mr.  David  M.  Davis  were  to  have  conducted,  but  the  former 


128  World's  Third 

gentleman  was  Unfortunately  unable  to  be  presebt  owing  to  illness, 
and  his  place  was  taken  by  Mr.  W.  P.  Hunter  who  proved  a  most 
efficient  substitute.    Mr.  Horace  G.  Holmes  was  the  organist. 

The  concert  commenced  with  the  singing  of  the  grand  Old 
Hundredth  psalm,  special  emphasis  being  given  to  the  glorious  tune 
and  the  no  less  glorious  words  by  the  first  verse  being  sung  in 
unison ;  the  second  by  sopranos  and  altos  only,  and  the  third  in 
harmony.  The  various  numbers  were  most  successfully  rendered 
from  beginning  to  end,  but  it  miy  be  mentioned  that  the  singing  of 
"  See  what  love"  (1  John  iii.  1)  was  marked  with  great  pathos,  the 
*'  Good  night,  beloved"  was  remarkable  for  its  tenderness,  and  "  Light 
and  shade,"  and  the  "  Praise  the  Lord,  O  Jerusalem,"  wns  given  with 
great  spirit,  the  choir  evidently  enjoying  the  emphasis  which  forms  a 
strong  point  of  the  music.  "  God  of  the  Nations,"  "  A  Song  of  Peace." 
in  which  the  well-known  "  Anvil  Chorus"  from  "II  Trovutore"  has 
been  utilised,  received  a  well  merited  encore,  and  "  Ye  Mariners  of 
England"  would  have  been  rep<'atcd  had  time  permitted. 


Sunday  School  Convention*  129 


SECOND  DAY.— SIXTH  SESSION. 

Wednesday  Evening. 

The  sixtli  session  was  also  held  at  tlie  Crystal  Palace,  when  a  large 
number  of  delegates  sat  down  to  tea  in  the  Grand  Summer  Dining 
Koom.  This  proved  to  bo  a  very  popular  gathering,  and  a  great 
many  were  compelled  to  find  accommodation  in  a  room  adjoining. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Groser,  B.Sc,  Hon.  Literary  Sec.  Sunday  School  Union, 
presided,  and  after  tea  said  :  Friends  and  Fellow-workers, — I  have  been 
piazzling  myself  why  I  am  here  except  as  a  delegate,  or  whom  I  am 
going  to  represent.  I  certainly  cannot  represent  the  Sunday  School 
Union,  for  that  has  been  done  over  and  over  again.  Neither  caa  I 
represent  the  Council  of  the  Union,  because  my  dear  friend  Mr.  Belsey 
has  been  doing  so  in  height  and  breadth  and  length  and  depth.  So 
that  all  I  can  do  is  to  represent  the  four  secretaries  of  the  Sunday 
School  Union.  We  have  two  "  travelling  "  secretaries  who  happen  to 
be  away  at  the  present  time,  one  in  South  Africa  and  the  other  in 
the  south  of  England.*  I  should  very  much  like  to  have  presented 
them  to  you,  but  in  their  absence  I  am  sure  you  will  allow  me  on 
their  behalf  and  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Tillett,  who  is  here,  to  accord  as 
hearty  a  welcome  on  the  secretaries'  part  as  you  have  heard  from 
other  representatives  of  the  Council. 

I  should  be  very  sorry  indeed  if  any  serious  inconvenience  has  been 
caused  to  any  of  our  friends  by  reason  of  the  inadequacy  of  this  room 
to  contain  all  who  have  favoured  us  with  their  company.  The  fact  is 
our  country  is  painfully  small,  and  I  have  felt  I  really  ought  to  begin 
with  an  apology,  because  we  do  not  seem  able  to  accommodate  as 
many  as  our  hearts  and  minds  would  easily  find  room  for. 

Very  cordially  do  we  welcome  the  somewhat  remarkable  association 
of  brethren  and  sisters  met  together  here  at  this  present  time. 
Like  Jacob  of  old,  I  find  myself  between  two  bands,  one  a  delegate 
band  and  the  other  a  very  musical  band.  You  have  been  listening 
to  the  strains  which  have  been  participated  in  or  promoted  by  the 
one  band,  and  I  hope  that  much  gratification  has  been  imparted  to  the 
other,  especially  while  hearing  the  fresh  young  voices  of  some  of  our 
English  Sunday  scholars.     We  have  a  notion  that  they  can  sing,  and 

*  Mr.  Joseph  Edmunds  and  Mr.  Chas.  Robottom. 


130  World's  Third 

that  the  Loiukm  Sunday  School  Choir  has  clone  noble  work.  Although 
we  are  two  bands  ui  that  sense,  the  two  become  fused  into  one  when 
we  call  to  mind  the  Sunday  school  idea.  For  this  musical  represen- 
tation is  also  a  Sunday  school  representation,  and  so  we  are  essentially 
one  as  associates  in  one  great  work.  And  therefore  we  can  feel 
to-night  something  of  that  comradeship  which  I  think,  after  the 
experience  of  a  great  many  years,  distinguishes  the  Sunday  school 
agency  almost  more  than  any  other  form  of  Christian  activity.  Go 
where  we  will,  we  meet  with  a  cordial  and  brotherly  greeting,  and  feel 
that  we  are  fairly  entitled  in  the  Church  of  Ciirist  to  bear  the  name  of 
the  United  Service.  I  trust,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  tliat  the  gatherings 
of  this  week  will  tend  to  make  that  comradeship  more  real,  more  deep, 
and  more  enduring,  and  that  the  eflbrts  of  my  friends  the  Convention 
Committee,  to  accord  you  not  only  a  welcome  but  so  far  as  possible  to 
make  you  feel  at  home  with  us,  will  furtlier  strengthen  the  links  of 
that  golden  chain  which  unite  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  the  wide  world 
over. 

Mr.  J.  Barnard  :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — On  behalf  of  the 
Executive  Committee  and  Musical  Council  of  our  choir  I  wish  to 
convey  to  you  our  feeling  at  meeting  our  American  and  our  Colonial 
and  ioreign  delegates  to-day.  No  words  of  mine,  no  language  which 
I  can  command,  could  convey  to  you  anything  like  the  feeling  which 
fills  our  hearts  towards  you.  One  of  tlie  principal  objects  of  our 
organisation  is  to  promote  unity  among  Christian  brethren  of  all 
denominations  free  from  any  sectarian  bias— and  you  may  imagine 
how  we  felt  while  carrying  on  this  work  in  London  and  the  suburbs 
and  the  country,  to  think  that  to-day  this  bond  is  to  be  extended  to 
those  brethren  across  the  sea,  whom  wo  love  so  much,  and  wliom  we 
are  glad  to  meet  on  these  common  grounds  of  Christian  brotherhood. 
I  want  you  to  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that  America  has  always 
been  the  outwork,  and  the  Colonies  and  our  bretlu-en  on  the  European 
continent  have  always  had  our  sympathy.  It  is  not  tlie  first  time  we 
have  been  in  touch  with  America.  In  the  year  1880  we  had  our 
American  brethren.  Some  of  these,  when  they  got  back  to  New  York 
specially  deputed  a  delegate  to  return  to  England  to  ascertain  the 
lines  on  which  we  work  the  musical  association,  and  they  established 
one  in  New  York.  Whether  it  is  in  existence  now  I  do  not  know. 
We  carried  on  a  correspondence  for  some  years ;  but  you  know 
Sunday  school  workers  have  no  time  for  fancy  correspondence,  so  it 
dropped. 

We  have  done  musical  work  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand 
although  we  are  of  London,  and  I  am  sure  we  are  very  glad  to  meet 
you  to-day. 

I  have  one  word  more  to  say,  and  that  is  towards  my  immediate 
colleagues.  This  is  the  only  opportunity  I  may  have  of  saying  it  as 
they  are  jiresent  here  this  evening.  I  have  to  th.ank  tliem  for  their 
loyal  and  hearty  co-operation.  No  band  of  men  and  women  could 
Lave  worked  better  than  they  have.     Tliey  work  well  and  loyally  to 


Sunday  School  Convention,  131 

one  end,  the  main  demonstration  of  that  you  have  seen  at  the 
Mansion  House  and  also  to-day,  and  we  hope  to  give  you  further 
proof  at  the  Queen's  Hall.  I  thank  you  all,  and  assure  you  how  glad 
personally  I  am  to  be  here  to-day.  I  feel  it  one  of  the  proudest  days 
of  my  life. 

The  Chairman  :  Professor  Hamill  has  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  his 
brethren  and  sisters,  notwithstanding  the  thunders  of  war.  We  rejoice 
to  see  them  here,  and  we  pray  that  we  may  not  have  mistaken  those 
faint  gleams,  though  they  be  but  faint,  which  seem  to  brighten  the 
dark  cloud  with  hopes  of  returning  peace. 

Professor  Hamill  :  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — I  have 
not  very  carefully  made  a  study  of  human  anatomy,  but  I  can  see  now 
the  wisdom  of  Dame  Nature  in  locating  the  organs  of  sustenance  near 
to  those  of  sound,  therefore  I  esteem  it  a  wise  thing  on  the  part  of  the 
committee  of  management  that  you  have  this  interim  of  harmony, 
perhaps  not  so  refined  or  aesthetic  as  that  which  it  comprised  and 
which  in  a  little  while  will  follow  after. 

I  have  nothing  to  say  upon  the  technique  of  music.  Coming  from 
a  far  western  land  which  in  a  hundred  years  has  had  to  bridge  its 
rivers  and  run  its  lines  of  steel  from  shore  to  shore,  build  its  great 
cities  and  transform  nature  and  put  her  into  service,  you  cannot 
expect  our  fair  young  republic  so  soon  to  have  taken  upon  herself  the 
graciousness  that  inheres  in  the  music  of  our  motherland.  I  feel 
somewhat  like  the  Arizona  justice  of  peace  in  the  matter  of  music, 
who,  in  the  matter  of  law,  advertised  himself  as  prepared  to  adjudicate 
matters  with  rouglmess  and  despatch.  If  I  had  been  asked  two  weeks 
ago  if  there  was  anything  special  to  be  learned  in  music  in  this  old 
world  metropolis  of  London,  I  think,  true  to  the  instincts  of  the 
average  American,  I  should  have  been  ready  to  disclaim  any  purpose 
or  disclaim  any  wish  on  the  part  of  the  300  delegates  who  came  with 
out  volume  of  sound  across  the  Atlantic  and  safely  have  reached  your 
midst.  But  I  beg  to  say  with  the  memory  of  the  magnificent  music 
of  the  afternoon,  a  massing  of  harmony  in  such  fine  and  yet  splendid 
proportion,  that  we  take  off  our  hats  in  the  presence  of  the  musicians 
of  this  great  city — and  when  an  American  takes  off  his  hat  I  want 
you  to  understand  it  is  tlie  very  best  thing  in  the  way  of  compliment 
he  can  do. 

_  You  know,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  sometimes  in  the  history  of  the 
family  the  son  or  the  daughter,  with  waywardness  which  seems 
unfortunately  peculiar  to  youth,  leaves  the  old  family  home,  turns 
away  from  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  the  mother,  and  then,  after 
a  while,  when  cares  have  pressed  upon  her  and  the  burden  of  maturity 
has  fallen  upon  her,  the  daughter  comes  back  to  the  old  home,  lays 
her  head  in  the  old  and  well-accustomed  lap,  speaks  her  words  of 
regretfulness  at  turning  away  from  the  wisdom  of  the  mother.  So 
come  we  into  your  presence  to-night,  a  daughter  returning  to  the 
mother  and  to  the  motherland,  and,  laying  our  most  gracious 
tribute  at  your  feet  in  memory  of  the  sweet  voice  that  will  be  borne  to 

K  2 


132  World'8  Third 

our  Western  Continent,  and  will  linger  even  as  a  dream  in  oul" 
hearts. 

Do  you  know  there  is  a  beautiful  legend  of  old  that  illustrates  the 
sense  of  tlie  speaker  as  to  the  value  of  these  harmonies,  so  near  akin 
to  the  harmonies  of  heaven.  For  is  it  not  your  own  great  bard  so  dear 
to  us  who  has  said  that — 

"  The  man  that  hath  no  music  in  himself. 
Nor  is  not  moved  with  concord  of  sweet  sounds, 
Is  fit  for  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils." 

There  is  a  universal  language,  and  it  is  that  of  music.  There  is  a 
language  which  will  survive  the  matchless  Anglo-Saxon  tongue> 
coursing  around  the  world  the  tongue  of  the  conqueror  in  generations 
gone  and  to  come.  And  yet  there  is  a  language  which  will  survive 
that,  and  it  is  the  language  of  melody  and  harmony,  that  great  gift 
of  God  to  us  when  He  turned  us  out  of  Eden  as  a  reminder  of  the 
Eden  into  which  He  shall  permit  us  again  to  come. 

That  old  legend  is  like  this.  The  crafty  Greek  went  out  upon  his 
wanderings  for  twenty  years,  and  by-and-by  his  ship  coasted  past  the 
islands  of  the  sirens,  who  were  wont  to  lure  to  the  shore  and  over  the 
hidden  rocks  the  passing  voyager  to  his  death.  Ulysses,  the  crafty 
Greek,  stopped  the  ears  of  his  sailors  with  wax,  and  caused  them  to 
bind  him  to  the  mast,  and  so,  wlien  the  strains  of  music  came  from  the 
island  of  peril,  his  sliip  sped  on  its  way  in  safety.  There  came 
another  sweet  singer,  Orpheus,  favoured  one  of  the  Gods,  with  his 
golden  lyre,  and  with  his  ship  he  passed  the  fatal  island.  Instead  of 
stopping  the  ears  of  his  men  and  chaining  himself  to  the  mast,  he  took 
down  the  lyre  given  him  of  Apollo,  and  played  most  delightful  music 
upon  it.  And  the  music  of  the  sirens  was  as  nothing  to  that  of 
Orpheus,  favoured  singer  of  the  Gods.  Tiie  nation,  the  people,  the 
city  that  ignores  tliis  gift  of  heaven,  divine  music,  divinest  of  tlie 
muses,  is  like  Ulysses  the  Greek,  chaining  himself  to  the  mast  of  duty. 
'J'he  nation,  the  city,  the  society  that  does  honour  and  gives  emphasis 
to  this,  most  favoured  of  the  languages  of  heaven  and  earth,  is  like 
Orpheus  with  his  golden  lyre,  who  needed  not  to  chain  himself  to  the 
mast  of  duty,  iiut  strings  its  lyre  and  gives  forth  the  sweetest  chords 
and  charms  both  men  and  angels. 

The  Chaiuman:  You  have  heard,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  of  the 
regretted  absence  of  one  of  our  conductors,  Mr.  Merritt.  I  can  very 
fully  enter  into  his  feelings  of  regret  and  disappointment,  because  my 
own  experience  was  of  a  like  painful  character  at  the  gatherings  in 
1880  and  1889.  I  therefore  sympathise  very  keenly  with  my  friend 
Mr.  Merritt.  You  remember  how  the  Scottish  spearmen  filled  up 
their  ranks  at  Floddeu ;  and  so  it  has  been  in  this  case  with  regard 
to  the  music. 

"  Each  stepping  where  his  comrade  stood, 
The  instant  that  he  fell." 


Sunday  School  Convention.  133 

And  now,  liaving  listened  to  those  delightful  and  sympathetic  words 
from  Professor  Hamill,  may  I  call  for  a  few  from  Mr.  Rowley,  the 
conductor  of  the  junior  school  choir,  to  which  you  have  listened,  I 
understand,  with  very  great  pleasure. 

Mr.  Rowley  :  Fellow-workers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard, — As  con- 
ductor of  the  junior  concert  of  the  London  Sunday  School  Choir,  I  have 
a  message  to  the  delegates  from  the  various  parts  of  the  world.  That 
message  is  short.  You  cannot  find  better  ground  on  which  to  sow 
your  seed  than  the  hearts  of  the  cliildren.  You  cannot  find  better 
seed  to  sow  on  that  ground  than  God's  word,  when  wedded  to  good 
music,  such  as  the  words  and  music  that  you  laave  listened  to  to-day. 
The  tliousands  of  children  who  sang  in  the  concert  this  afternoon 
have  learned  the  grand  words  of  Longfellow's  "  Village  Blacksmith  " 
by  heart ;  and  these  words  they  will  never  forget.  And  so  with  a 
dozen  other  songs  and  hymns,  each  of  tliem  telling  more  or  less  of  the 
sympathy  of  their  Saviour,  and  the  tender  and  longing  compassion  of 
their  Father.  They  will  remember  those  words  to  their  dying  day. 
It  is  a  seed  which  is  bound  to  bear  good  fruit  to  the  honour  and  glory 
of  God.  You  will  emulate,  no  doubt,  in  the  countries  to  which  you 
go,  something  of  the  spirit  that  has  moved  us  in  the  getting  up  of  this 
concert,  and  you  will  in  the  morning  sow  your  seed,  and  in  the 
evening  withhold  not  your  hand,  for  thou  canst  not  tell  whether  it 
will  prosper  for  this  or  that,  or  whether  they  shall  both  be  alike 
good.    This  is  my  message  to  you,  friends. 

I  have  a  word  of  apology  now  to  give  from  the  President  of  the 
Tonic  Sol-fa  College,  Mr.  J.  Spencer  Curwen.  He  told  me  he  was 
very  sorry  he  would  not  be  able  to  stay  this  afternoon  as  he  had  a  very 
important  engagement  in  the  City.  Besides  being  tl;e  President  of 
the  Tonic  Sol-fa  College,  he  is,  as  you  know,  one  of  our  own  Vice- 
Presidents. 

The  Chairman  :  I  am  sure  you  will  be  pleased  to  hear  a  few  words 
from  one  who  represents  the  great  Art  of  Teaching,  and  is  able  to 
appear  as  a  theorist  and  actual  practiser  of  that  art,  I  mean  our 
friend  Mr.  Bailey. 

Mr.  Jas.  Bailey  (Southlands  Training  College,  Battersea) : 
Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies,  and  Gentlemen, — You  have  done  me  a  very 
unexpected  honour  in  calling  ujion  me.  It  is  the  only  uncomfort  ible 
thing  that  has  been  done  to  me,  and  has  given  me  the  only  uncom- 
fortable feeling  I  have  experienced  this  day.  But  I  am  glad.  Sir, 
to  have  the  opportunity  first  of  expressing,  on  behalf  of  a  good  many 
connected  with  the  Sunday  schools  of  London,  and  I  may  say  also, 
in  a  liumble  measure,  of  England,  the  great  debt  of  obligation  which 
we  owe  to  the  founder  and  the  promoters  of  the  London  Sunday 
School  Choir,  and  those  who  have  carried  on  this  great  matter  of 
Sunday  school  music. 

If  we  could  conceive  the  eifect  of  taking  music  and  singing  out  of 
education,  either  the  education  connected  with  the  day  school  or  the 
education  connected  with  the  Sunday  school,  we  should,  if  we  could 


134  World's  Third 

reali8(j  it,  staud  appalled  at  the  effect  wliicli  would  be  the  result  of 
that  disastroua  circumstance.  For  there  is  no  practical  educator  who 
is  not  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  extremely  valua1)le  handmaid 
which  music,  the  art  of  singing  particularly,  is  in  all  intellectual  and 
in  all  spiritual  engagements  of  children.  Wliat  the  music  is  to  the 
army — at  least  in  its  inspiring  efl'ect  and  the  clieerfulness  which  it 
gives  in  time  of  peace,  and  the  vigour  which  it  gives  in  time  of  war — 
nuisic  and  singing  are  to  tlie  art  of  teaching,  whether  in  the  day  school 
or  in  the  Sunday  school.  And  I  do  not  believe  anything  could  more 
admirably  illustrate  to  the  general  observer  what  advance  has  been 
made,  say  in  the  last  twenty-five  years,  or  more  than  that,  in  the  art 
of  teacliing  and  in  the  power  of  the  Simday  school  as  well  as  in  the 
jxnver  and  in  the  practice  of  singing.  I  suppose  that  every  teacher 
and  every  superintendent  must  be  very  conscious  of  the  wonderful 
(lifli'erence  there  is  in  teaching  children  to  sing  in  the  Sunday  school 
to-day  as  compared  with  what  was  the  case  some  twenty-five  years 
ago.  And  it  is  of  course  due  very  largely  indeed  to  the  training 
which  the  children  get  in  their  day  school. 

But,  Sir,  it  is  always  a  delight  to  me  to  feel  that  the  jwwer  vi 
singing — as  well  as  the  art  of  communicating  knowledge — is,  in  some 
of  its  most  eflfective  and  valuable  forms,  as  represented  to-day  in  the 
day  schools  of  this  country,  due  very  largely  indeed  to  the  Sunday 
fcchools. 

1  feel  strongly,  as  has  just  been  said,  as  to  the  immense  value 
to  these  dear  children  of  this,  that  in  the  process  of  preparing  them 
for  this  most  delightfully  rendered  concert  to-day,  they  have  learned 
two  things  which  to  many  of  them — let  us  hope  to  most  of  them,  to  all 
of  them — will  be  not  merely  lifelong  memories  of  the  utmost  possible 
delight,  but  lifelong  influences  of  the  greatest  possible  value.  That 
is  to  say,  they  have  had  infused  into  their  lives  the  charm  of  the 
power  to  sing,  and  the  skill  which  is  acquired,  the  delight  which  is 
given,  each  will  have  its  own  higher  and  holier  influence. 

I  am  delighted  to  have  heard  the  very  graceful  and  eloquent 
words  which  have  come  to  us  from  America,  and  I  feel  too  that  it  is 
something  which  we  as  English  teacliers  may  be  proud  of,  that  the 
exhibition  of  to-day  has  won  from  a  gentleman,  evidentl}'  so  well  able 
to  appreciate  and  give  expression  to  it,  the  very  high  encomium — not 
too  high,  I  am  quite  sure — which  has  been  rendered  to  the  value  of 
the  singing.    I  thank  you.  Sir,  for  the  opportunity  of  saving  this. 

The  Chairman  :  My  friend  Mr.  Towers  has  a  brief  intimation  to 
give,  after  which  we  shall  adjourn. 

Mr.  Towers:  I  am  not  going  to  make  a  speech,  though  I  am 
strongly  tempted  to  say  something  about  music.  The  very  highest 
tribute  that  could  be  jmid  to  our  festival  was  that  from  one  of  our 
friends,  who  said  it  was  worth  crossing  the  Atlantic  to  listen  to,  and  I 
can  believe  it.  We  are  sure  our  friends  who  have  taken  such 
trouble  in  connection  with  the  concert  will  feel  that  it  has  been 
thoroughly  appreciated  by  all  our  delegates  from  town  and  country 


Sunday  School  Convention.  135, 

and  from  abroad.     That  is  some  consolation  to  tlioso  who  have  worked 
so  hard. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Towers  the  meeting  sent  a  telegi-am  to 
Mr.  Merritt,  expressing  heartfelt  sympathy  with  him.  The  pro- 
ceedings then  terminated. 


Later  in  the  evening  the  Polytechnic  and  People's  Palace  Mandoline 
Band,  consisting  (if  one  hundred  instrumentalists,  gave  a  performance 
in  the  concert  room,  Mr.  B.  M.  Jenkins  conducting,  and  with  this, 
what  might  be  appropriately  termed  "a  day  of  music,"  was  brought 
to  a  close. 


136  '         World's  Third 


THIRD  DAY.— SEVENTH  SESSION. 
Thursday,  14th  July. 

A  MEETING  for  praise  and  prayer  was  hold  in  the  morning  between 
9.20  and  9.50,  conducted  by  the  Rev.  E.  G.  Gange,  of  Eegent's  Park 
Chapel,  London. 

The  hymn  was  sung — 

"  Come,  thou  desire  of  all  Thy  saints." 

The  100th  Psalm  was  read,  and  prayers  were  oflered  for  the  wide 
extension  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  for  direct  gospel  teaching  in  every 
Sunday  and  day  school,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  true  brotherhood 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

"Come,  Holy  Ghost,  and  through  eacli  heart," 

was  the  next  hymn,  and  then  Count   Bernstorff,  of  Berlin,  led  the 
meeting  in  prayer,  the  devotional  exercises  concluding  with  the  song — 

"  Closer,  dear  Lord,  to  Thee." 


THE  WORK   EXAMINED. 

At  10  o'clock,  the  President  (Mr.  E.  Towers),  announced  the 
hymn — 

"  Father  of  mercies,  in  Thy   word," 

and  this  having  been  sung  with  devout  feeling,  the  Rev.  Dr.  J. 
Lawson  Forster  led  in  prayer. 

The  President  :  We  have  already  expressed  our  regret  at  the 
absence  of  Mr.  Jacobs  from  this  Convention,  but  we  have  present  with 
us  this  morning  a  gentleman  who,  to  a  very  considerable  extent, 
represents  Mr.  Jacobs;  and  I  am  going  to  ask  Mr.  A.  B.  McCrillis,  of 
Rhode  Island,  kindly  to  preside  over  the  Session. 

Accordingly,  Mr.  McCrillis  took  tlie  chair,  and  at  once  called  the 
first  business. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  137 


REPORT  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  LESSON 
COMMITTEE. 

Eead  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Potts  {Canada). 

The  fourth  series  of  Bible  studies,  under  the  International  Lesson 
System,  will  be  completed  with  the  close  of  the  year  1899.  The  fifth 
Committee,  chosen  at  the  International  Convention  in  Boston,  U.S.A., 
in  1896,  consists  of  fifteen  members,  representing  ten  religious  deno- 
minations in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  with  six  corresponding 
members  in  Great  Britain.  To  these  have  since  been  added  one 
corresponding  member  in  Australia  and  one  in  India.  This  Committee 
still  includes  two  brethren,  honoured  and  beloved,  who  were  appointed 
when  the  system  was  first  adopted  and  have  served  on  every  committee 
since, — Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs  and  Rev.  Dr.  Warren  Randolph.  Of  the 
remaining  American  members,  one  was  appointed  on  the  second  Com- 
mittee, two  on  the  third,  and  two  on  the  fourth.  All  these  have 
served  continuously  since  their  first  appointment.  Eight  were  chosen 
for  the  first  time  on  the  fifth  Committee. 

The  task  is  great,  to  lead  and  unify  the  Sunday  schools  of  the 
world  in  the  study  of  the  Bible.  No  merely  human  eflbrt  could 
succeed  in  doing  it.  The  fact  that  many  millions  in  many  nations 
— and  a  constantly  increasing  number — for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  have  united  in  this  movement,  is  unmistakable  evidence  of 
the  favour  and  guidance  of  God. 

The  principles  first  adopted  continue  to  characterise  the  Inter- 
national Lesson  System.  Substantially  the  entire  Bible  is  to  be 
surveyed  during  a  course  of  six  years.  One  and  the  same  lesson  is  to 
be  chosen  for  each  Sunday  for  the  whole  school  and  for  all  schools. 
The  work  of  the  Committee  is  confined  to  the  selection  of  Scripture 
passages  and  Golden  Texts,  giving  to  each  lesson  a  suitable  title.  The 
interpretation  of  these  selected  Scriptures  is  left  entirely  to  lesson 
writers  and  teachers,  thus  furnishing  as  a  uniform  basis  for  study  the 
simplest  outlines,  with  the  largest  liberty  to  individuals  and  to  deno- 
minations. The  Committee  in  its  plan  regards  first  those  who  are  not 
able  to  select  wisely  a  course  of  lessons  for  themselves.  These  form 
a  very  large  proportion  of  those  gathered  into  Sunday  schools  for  the 
study  of  the  Bible.  The  Committee  also  welcomes  and  considers 
carefully  the  suggestions  of  those  who  are  able  to  select  lessons  for 
themselves  and  to  help  others  in  doing  this. 

While  these  general  principles  have  been  adhered  to  by  every 
committee,  steady  progress  has  been  made  in  the  evolution  of  the 
lesson  system.  At  first  the  lessons  were  tbree  months  in  the  Old 
Testament,  alternating  with  the  same  time  in  the  New  Testament. 
Through  experience  the  Committee  was  led  to  devote  longer  unbroken 
periods  to  each  section,  following  continuously  the  unfolding  of  Jewisli 


138  World's  Third 

histoiy,  of  the  life  of  Christ  and  of  the  growth  of  tho  Christian  church. 
Yet  the  lessons  were  necessarily  episodes,  incidents,  and  precepts,  and 
the  connection  which  made  the  successive  lessons  histories  and  biogra- 
phies depended  entirely  on  lesson  writers  and  teachers.  The  fact  that 
the  Scriptures  do  not  contain  histories,  biographies,  and  continuous 
discourses  as  thcsu  terms  are  now  understood,  made  the  work  of  lesson 
writers  peculiarly  open  to  criticism  as  fragmentary,  and  the  reason  for 
this  was  often  charged  to  the  lesson  Committee.  Each  successive 
course,  however,  has  traced  more  accurately  and  continuously  than  the 
preceding  courses  the  succession  of  events  and  the  progress  of  revela- 
tion in  biblical  history.  The  Committee  has  endeavoured  to  make 
the  connection  more  plain  by  selecting,  in  addition  to  the  text  to  be 
printed,  connected  readings,  and  parallel  passages. 

The  next  course  of  lessons,  beginning  with  1900,  is  to  cover  six  years, 
two  and  one-half  of  them  to  be  given  to  the  Old  Testament  and  three 
and  one-half  to  the  New  Testament.  The  first  year  and  a  half  will  be 
devoted  to  studies  in  the  life  of  our  Lord  selected  from  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament  and  chronologically  arranged.  "With  these 
studies  will  be  joined  suggested  readings  which  include  nearly  all  the 
Gospels,  and  other  portions  of  the  New  Testament  which  relate  to  the 
events  of  our  Lord's  life  on  earth.  In  the  selections  from  the  Old 
Testament,  as  well  as  the  New,  especial  emphasis  is  to  be  laid  on  the 
biographical  element,  making  prominent  the  characters,  deeds,  and 
teachings  of  patriarchs,  kings,  and  prophets,  of  Christ  and  the 
Apostles.  The  Committee  believes  that  by  placing  foremost  the 
personal  element  and  by  it  interpreting  the  historical,  the  greatest 
interest  will  be  awakened  among  all  classes  of  Bible  students.  The 
continued  success  of  this  system  depends  largely  on  those  who  prepare 
the  lesson  helps.  The  demands  made  by  millions  of  teachers  and 
scholars  have  called  into  the  field  an  increasing  army  of  interpreters 
whose  labours  have  immensely  advanced  the  scholarly  examination  of 
the  Bible  from  every  point  of  view,  as  well  as  the  popular  study  of  it. 
The  Christian  world  has  not  yet  come  to  the  full  appreciation  of  the 
service  rendered  to  Christianity  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  the  impulse  given  to  it  for  the  coming  century  by  these 
devoted  men  and  women,  the  most  of  whom  have  held  the  respect  of 
Biblical  scholars,  and  many  of  whom  have  themselves  been  eminent 
scliolars  adapting  their  work  to  popular  needs.  The  Committee  have 
always  welcomed  their  co-operation,  and  in  recent  years  have 
increasingly  availed  themselves  of  it. 

Tho  joresont  Committee  invited  lesson  writers  and  others  engaged 
in  preparing  and  teaching  Sunday  school  lessons  to  present  to  it,  at 
its  first  meeting,  criticisms,  and  suggestions.  This  meeting  was  held 
in  Philadelphia,  on  March  17tli,  1897,  and  was  largely  attended.  In 
a  conference  of  several  hours,  the  advisability  of  separate  courses  for 
primary  and  advanced  classes,  the  general  outlines  to  be  followed,  the 
titles,  the  golden  texts,  and  other  important  topics  were  extensively 
discussed.    A  number  of  prominent  Sunday  school  workers,  unable  to 


Sunday  School  Convention,  139 

be  present,  sent  written  communications,  some  of  thorn  of  much 
value. 

Following  this  conference  tlie  Committee  adopted  a  general  outline 
of  a  course  of  Bible  lessons  for  six  years,  and  adjourned  till  November, 
when  tentative  selections  from  the  Gospels  for  the  year  1900  were 
made. 

The  Committee's  method  of  procedure  as  now  adopted  is  as  follows  : 

At  the  last  annual  meeting  in  March  of  this  year  a  committee  of 
three  was  appointed  to  malie  selections  from  the  Old  Testamtut  and 
a  similar  committee  to  make  selections  from  the  New  Testament.  The 
work  of  these  committees  is  carefully  considered  iu  detail  by  the 
entire  Committee.  When  a  course  of  lessons  for  a  year  is  pro- 
posed, copies  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  corresponding  members  in 
England  and  in  other  countries  for  examination  and  suggestions. 
These  suggestions  may  cover  all  points,  from  changes  in  texts  or 
memory  verses  to  the  possible  rearrangement  of  the  entire  course. 
Copies  are  also  furnished,  for  private  use  only,  to  a  number  of  Biblical 
scholars  and  students  inviting  similar  suggestions.  These  are  all 
placed  before  the  Lesson  Committee,  and  the  list  of  lessons  finally 
issued  is  the  result  of  the  combined  wisdom  of  many  students  of  the 
Bible  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  Committee  in  its  sessions  has 
found  very  valuable  assistance  in  the  co-operation  of  the  corresponding 
members  in  England,  whose  suggestions  are  usually  incorporated  into 
the  final  draft  of  the  lessons. 

The  Committee  has  devoted  much  time  to  the  consideration  of  the 
question  of  selecting  different  texts  for  dilferent  grades  of  pupils, 
primary  and  advanced,  in  addition  to  the  regular  course.  It  has 
carried  on  an  extensive  corresijondence,  and  has  examined  many  plans 
which  have  been  placed  before  it.  It  has  recognised  important 
advantages  which  might  be  gained  by  the  use  of  some  of  these  plans. 
But  it  has  not  tlxus  far  found  such  general  agreement  on  any  plan  as 
would  warrant  departure  from  the  uniform  system  of  one  lesson  text 
for  all.  It  has  endeavoured  to  select  such  texts  as  would  admit  of  as 
extensive  gradation  in  treatment  as  lesson-writers  might  think 
desirable. 

If  essentially  new  methods  are  to  take  the  place  of  those  which  up 
to  this  time  have  had  preference  in  the  Sunday  schools  of  the  world, 
their  worth  can  be  shown  only  by  experiment.  The  Committee 
cannot  adopt  radical  changes,  as  yet  untried,  which  affect  many 
millions  of  people.  But  we  regard  with  interest  all  efforts  to  improve 
Sunday  school  teaching,  and  seek  to  incorporate  into  our  work  such 
methods  as  are  proved  to  be  valuable,  and  calculated  to  make  more 
tfScient  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  Sunday  schools  of  the  world. 

We  welcome  friendly  criticism.  We  have  i^rofited  by  some  criticism 
which  seemed  unfriendly.  We  have  listened  occasionally  to  some 
which  seemed  to  be  based  on  lack  of  information,  and  which  demanded 
of  us  tasks  which  we  were  not  appointed  to  perform.  We  have  neither 
sought  nor  received  any  other  reward  than  the  consciousness  of  having 


140  World's  Third 

done,  to  the  best  of  our  ability,  the  work  to  ■which  we  were  called,  and 
the  evidence  of  wonderful  results  from  the  united  prayers,  labours,  and 
sympathies  of  many  millions  of  the  cliildren  of  God  with  whom  we 
count  it  a  great  privilege  to  be  joined.  AVe  are  grateful  for  the  loyal 
support  wc  have  always  received  from  those  who  have  called  us  to  this 
office.  We  thank  God  that  He  has  bestowed  such  abundant  favour  on 
the  International  Lesson  System  tlirough  these  four  courses  of  study  of 
the  Bible.  We  unite  with  all  Sunday  school  workers  in  the  prayer 
that  the  century  on  whose  threshold  we  stand  may  witness  the  saving 
knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God  accepted  by  the  whole  world. 

For  the  International  Lesson  Committee, 

A.  E.  Dunning,  Secretary. 


Dr.  Potts  next  read  a  paper  on  '*  The  Uniform  Sunday  School 

Lesson  System." 


THE  UNIFORM  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  LESSON  SYSTEM. 

By  Kev.  Dr.  Potts,  Chairman  of  the  International 
Lessons  Committee. 

The  Sunday  school  is  in  the  front  rank  of  the  spiritual  forces  of 
the  age. 

The  growth  of  the  Sunday  school  institution  has  been  marvellous. 
Think  of  its  magnitude  to-day  and  a  generation  ago.  Think  of  its 
efHciency  to-day  and  a  generation  ago.  Then  faulty  in  helps  and 
equipment  generally ;  to-day,  while  much  remains  to  be  done,  the 
Sunday  school  may  be  said  to  have  partaken  of  the  general  progress 
of  the  age.  Try  to  grasp  its  development  from  a  single  school  to 
the  World's  Convention,  and  what  lies  between  tliose  extremes  of 
organisation.  The  Sunday  school  is  not  perfect  yet,  less  perfect  in 
teaching  than  in  any  other  department.  Our  teaching  material  must 
be  considered.  It  is  not  like  public  school  teachers,  all  of  whom  must 
be  certificated  as  to  qualification  before  they  are  permitted  to  teach. 
We  are  not  prepared  to  require  this  in  our  Sunday  school  work.  We 
must  aim  at  a  high  standard,  but  always  gratefully  accept  a  largo 
class  gifted  with  sanctified  commonsense,  who  have  the  seal  of 
Christ's  approval  upon  their  work. 

The  Word  of  God  is  supremo  in  the  Sunday  school.  Let  it  ever 
be  so. 

The  Uniform  Lesson  System  is  tlie  centre  and  bond  of  tlie  various 
organisations  from  the  township  up  to  the  International  and  World's 
Convention.  To  break  up  the  system  would  be  to  disintegrate  the 
international  and,  therefore,  the  world-wide  Sunday  school  work. 

The  motto  of  the  Uniform  LesBon  System  is^one  lesson  for  all  the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  141 

ecliool  and  for  all  schools.  If  not  that,  as  near  to  that  as  can  be 
reached.  Grading,  of  course,  there  must  be,  but  could  not  that  be 
done  in  lesson  helps,  in  exposition,  and  in  teaching  ? 

I.  The  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  stood  the  test  of  time  and 
experience. 

It  has  passed  beyond  the  stage  of  the  experimental.  Witnesses  as 
to  its  efficiency,  adaptability  and  educational  value  are  many  and 
worthy  of  all  credence.  The  history  of  this  system  has  been  the 
history  very  largely  of  the  Sunday  school's  greatest  progress.  Its 
adoption  marked  an  epoch  in  the  advance  of  tlie  Sunday  school 
cause.  Before  the  adoption  of  tliu  Uniform  System,  where  was  the 
Sunday  school  as  to  Bible  study  ?  In  many  instances  there  was  not 
uniformity  in  individual  schools ;  in  some  cases  each  teacher  selected 
his  own  lessons.  This  was  done  without  helps  of  any  kind,  at  least 
comparatively  so.  What  did  the  school  exercises  mean  ?  Why, 
reading,  little  less  and  little  more,  unless  where  there  was  a  teacher  of 
unusual  character  and  ability. 

II.  The  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  unified  Sunday  school  teaching, 
and  yet  has  honoured  denominational  interpretation  of  the  Word  of 
God. 

Tliis  is  true  as  to  Topic  and  Text — the  same  central  thought,  the 
same  general  outline  and  illustration,  and  the  same  Golden  Text 
surmounts  the  whole  lesson.  Is  not  that  a  great  thing  to  have 
achieved  ?  AVhether  you  enter  a  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Congrega- 
tionalist,  or  Methodist  Sunday  school,  the  same  Scripture  is  read 
and  taught.  At  the  same  time  each  Lesson  is  prepared  more  or 
less  from  a  denominational  standpoint.  Denominational  conviction 
is  not  a  trifling  matter.  Our  entrance  into  Christian  life  was  largely 
effected  by  its  agency.  We  have  been  nurtured  and  taught,  we  have 
been  fed  and  feasted  on  truth  as  conveyed  to  us  through  the  channels 
of  church  life  and  association. 

The  Uniform  Lesson  System  is  broad  as  Christianity,  and  it 
reaches  our  schools  through  modes  of  doctrinal  exposition  which 
are  most  acceptable  to  us.  Each  denomination  has  its  own  Lesson 
writers. 

III.  The  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  provided  for  average  classes 
taught  by  ordinary  teachers. 

The  Sunday  school  is  not  a  theological  college.  Its  teachers  are  not 
tutors  and  professors  in  divinity.  Its  scliolars  are  not  candidates  for 
the  ministry.  It  is  composed  of  average  young  people,  and  it  is  taught 
by  Christian  people  who  have  spiritual  life  and  a  fair  knowledge  of 
tlie  Word  of  God  and  the  plan  of  salvation.  While  all  this  is  true,  the 
system  is  capable  of  the  most  advanced  study  and  teacliing  where  in 
select  Bible  classes,  composed  of  either  students  or  of  specially  intelli- 
gent people,  it  may  be  proper  to  discuss  the  higher  aspects  of  truth. 

The  history  of  the  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  meant  a  more  syste- 
matic study  of  the  Bible.  There  is  a  more  comprehensive  knowledge 
of  the  Word  of  God  than  ever  before.    Surely  this  must  be  attributed 


142  World's  Third 

to  more  expository  preacliing,  and  to  the  systematic  study  required  by 
our  Interuational  Lesson  System  and  to  the  invaluable  Aids  which  it 
produces. 

We  must  try  more  and  more  to  avoid  the  hand-to-mouth  plan  of 
many  teachers.  The  best  qualification  to  teacli  in  detail  is  to  know 
the  lesson  as  a  whole ;  therefore  all  around  the  lesson  should  be  known 
to  teach  the  lesson  well. 

IV.  The  intellectual,  or  educational  benefits  of  the  Uniform  Lesson 
System  are  many  and  great. 

The  Bible  is  both  a  revelation  and  a  literature.  In  either  or  in  both 
lines  it  has  its  difficulties  of  interpretation.  The  Sunday  school  and 
tlie  pulpit  have  to  deal  with  the  Bible  more  as  a  revelation  than  as  a 
literature.  Nature  and  the  Bible  in  their  simplicity  and  profundity  have 
lessons  so  simple  and  so  easily  learned  that  they  are  like  kindergarten 
or  object  lessons,  while  at  the  same  time  each  has  subjects  so  complex, 
mysterious  and  profound  that  they  require  sages  on  tlie  one  hand  and 
saints  on  the  other,  rightly  or  approximately  to  interpret  tliem. 

The  Bible  must  be  studied  with  great  thought  and  care  and  prayer, 
and  then  we  need  the  aid  of  experts  if  we  would  know  and  be  able  to 
appropriate  much  of  its  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  Here 
lies  the  great  value  of  Lesson  writers.  We  find  two  classes  of  writers 
in  the  expounders  of  the  Uniform  Lesson  System— the  purely  intel- 
lectual and  critical,  and  the  eminently  practical  or  exi^crt  class.  Each 
has  a  value  of  his  own,  but  both  are  best  for  teachers.  The  eminent 
Biblical  students  and  higlily  intellectual  class  bring  up  out  of  the 
mine  great  nuggets  of  golden  truth  which  enrich  buth  intellect  and 
heart ;  the  expert  teacher  of  teachers  mints  the  gold  and  sends  it  forth 
into  Sunday  school  circulation  in  size  and  form  adapted  to  the  capacity 
of  the  various  departments  of  our  scliools. 

The  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  created  a  Biblical  literature  of  great 
value  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  to  the  general  edification  of  the  Church, 
as  well  as  tn  the  special  qualificati(jn  of  Sunday  school  workers.  All 
this  would  be  largely  impossible  in  the  absence  of  a  uniform  system 
of  lessons.  To-day  the  best  Biblical  thought  of  the  age  is  at  the 
disposal  of  both  teachers  and  scholars,  and  almost  without  money  and 
without  price. 

Think,  then,  of  the  helps  it  has  developed  of  a  pictorial  and  normal 
class  kind.  Artists  and  normal  class  instructors  have  become  a 
necessity  in  the  intelligent  prosecution  of  Sunday  school  work. 
Looking  at  the  Bible  and  Sunday  school  work  from  an  intellectual 
standpoint  merely,  the  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  been  a  great  educator 
for  two-thirds  of  a  generation.  But  for  this  system  the  great  majority 
of  teachers  would  be  but  i)0()rly  qualified  to  expound  and  illustrate 
the  Word  of  God. 

If  we  rise  to  the  highest  conception  of  Sunday  school  work,  which 
is  (he  spiritual,  we  see  the  immense  advantages  accruing  from  a  proper 
interiiretation  of  the  Word  of  God  as  il  reveals  the  divine  purpose 
concerning  the  salvation  of  mankind. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  143 

V.  The  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  been  a  great  object  lesson  as  lo 
tlie  oneness  of  Protestant  Christianity. 

Tlio  Church  is  one  in  the  sense  of  uu  army  being  one.  Tlie  Church 
is  divided  in  the  sense  in  which  an  army  is  divided — companies, 
regiments,  battahons  and  brigades.  There  are  good  people  who  dream 
of  organic  union,  but  it  is  only  a  dream.  I  am  not  sure  that  organic 
union  would  be  an  immixed  blessing.  Nor  does  the  prayer  of  Christ 
for  His  Church  require  that.  Unity,  not  uniformity,  is  the  desirable 
object  to  be  attained.  We  may  be  distinct  as  the  billows,  but  one  as 
the  sea. 

I  look  upon  the  operations  of  the  Sunday  school  world  as  indicative 
of  a  great  evangelical  alliance  uniting  all  sections  of  the  Churcli 
around  the  great  text-book  of  our  common  Christianity.  And  is  there 
not  something  sublime  in  the  thought  of  all  teachers  of  the  Sunday 
schools  of  nearly  all  the  denominations  preparing  and  praying  over 
the  same  passage  of  the  Sacred  Word,  and  then  all  the  classes  being- 
taught  the  same  each  Lord's  Day  ? 

VI.  The  Uniform  Lesson  System  has  an  international  as  well  as  an 
interdenominajtional  influence  for  good. 

We  who  belong  to  the  Sunday  school  organisations  wliicli  are  inter- 
national are  not  less  citizens  and  subjects  of  oiir  own  respective  nation?. 
While  we  stand  for  our  own  nation  and  institutions  and  flag,  we  are 
agents  to  aid  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophetic  words  uttered  by  the 
angel  of  the  Lord,  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest;  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men." 

Just  in  proportion  as  the  Sunday  school  honours  the  Bible,  the 
Sunday-school  workers  and  friends  must  cultivate  the  spirit  of  j^eace 
and  fraternity  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

VII.  In  the  outlook  of  the  Uniform  Lesson  System,  the  home  depart- 
ment must  bo  considered. 

The  lesson  system  has  found  of  late  a  new  sphere  for  its  operations. 
It  has  been  a  power  in  the  home  as  well  as  in  the  Church,  but  in  the 
home  department  of  the  Sunday  school  it  will  possess  a  greatly 
multiplied  power.  Already  the  home  department  has  achieved  great 
success,  and  it  is  only  on  the  threshold  of  a  career  which  has  in  it 
possibilities  of  untold  good.  The  home  department  has  enrolled  many 
who  could  not  go  to  the  Sunday  school,  and  such  persons  shall  havu 
all  the  benefits  of  the  uniform  lesson  system  in  its  varied  and  enricli- 
ing  illustrations  of  divine  truth. 

Standing  here  and  looking  back  over  the  history  of  this  Institution, 
and  especially  back  over  the  history  of  the  Uniform  Lesson  System,  may 
we  not  tliank  God — should  we  not  thank  God — for  its  glorious  results 
in  Bible  study  ?  This  Institution  has  had  at  its  disposal  the  rich  and 
ripe  Christian  scholarship  of  a  great  army  of  earnest  and  consecrated 
workers,  foremost  in  the  field  of  Biblical  exposition  and  illustration. 

What  of  the  future?  The  century  is  dying,  and  it  has  a  great 
account  to  render,  but  another  and  greater  century  is  about  to  come 
into  existence.     The  twcntienth  century  shall  be  wonderful  in  com- 


144  World's  Third 

merce,  wonderful  in  science,  wonderful  in  literature,  wonderful  in 
philanthropy,  and  wonderful  in  the  furtherance  of  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Wliat  sliall  be  the  attitude,  what  shall  be  the 
equipment,  and  what  shall  be  the  consecration  of  the  Sunday  school 
hosts  of  the  Lord  as  the  twentieth  century  dawns  upon  us  ? 

What  organisation  is  equal  to  the  Sunday  school  in  the  enlarging 
and  building  up  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  ? 

Our  constituency  is  largely  made  up  of  children  and  youth.  Our 
business  is  to  save  and  train  the  children  and  youth  for  Christ.  How 
rich  the  field !  How  hopeful  the  outlook  in  the  light  of  prevention, 
in  the  liglit  of  salvation,  and  in  the  light  of  reward!  How  blessed 
is  tlie  work  of  winning  the  young  people  for  Christ ! 

From  the  platform  of  this  Convention,  called  the  World's  Conven- 
tion, I  ask  myself,  What  shall  be  the  future  of  this  Sunday  school 
organisation  ?  Its  aim  is  world-wide,  \U  text-book  is  world-wide,  its 
blessings  are  intended  to  be  world-wide,  and  to  its  world-wide  workers 
I  would  say,  "  Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast, 
nnmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as 
ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

The  Chairman  :  I  have  now  to  call  upon  our  greatly  honoured 
friend,  Dr.  S.  G.  Green,  to  read  a  paper. 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  SCHEME  OF  LESSONS. 

By  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  G.  Green  (London). 

Iteaunotbe  nece.ssary,  after  the  lucid  and  most  interesting  statement 
tliat  we  have  heard  from  Dr.  Potts,  to  occupy  any  more  time  with  the 
liistory  or  details  of  the  International  Lesson  System,  nor  with  a 
general  defence  of  its  principles.  I  would  rather  recall  the  audience 
to  the  ideal  we  liave  in  view,  and  ask  whether  there  are  any  lines  of 
action  by  which  it  may  be  yet  more  effectually  realised.  A  main 
purpose  of  the  scheme  is  that  our  scholars,  and,  I  may  add,  our 
teachers,  may  gain  a  comprehensive  and  adequate  knowledge  of 
Scripture  as  it  is, — in  its  diversity  as  a  manifold  literature  extending 
through  many  ages  ;  in  its  unity  as  a  development  of  redemption,  and 
in  its  order  as  a  progressive  revelation.  There  are  some  who  would 
prefer  the  order  of  a  creed  or  of  subjects,  as  rearranged  by  theologians. 
After  full  consideration  we  prefer  the  historical,  the  divine  method  of 
revelation.  It  was  a  remark  of  Richard  Cecil  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century  that  the  great  preachers  of  the  past  brought  their  observations 
to  illustrate  Scripture  ;  "  we  of  the  present,"  he  said,  "  are  more  in  the 
habit  of  bringing  Scripture  to  illustrate  our  observations."  For  us, 
the  teachers  of  the  young,  we  hold  the  ancient  method  is  the  best; 
and  our  lesson  course,  whatever  its  merits  or  defects,  is  framed 
according  to  the  method  of  the  Bible.  Yet  the  attempt  is  made  under 
unquestioned  disadvantages.     The  teacher  has,  say  an  hour  and  a 


Sunday  School  Convention.  145 

half  a  week — an  hour  and  a  half  at  most,  intruded  upon  and  broken 
by  many  incidental  engagements — to  introduce  the  scholars  to  this 
wonderful  literature  !  The  ditficulty  has  to  be  fairly  met.  I  know  of 
no  more  effective  plan  for  this  purpose  than  that  the  best  minds  in 
both  hemispheres,  devoted  to  the  task  of  instruction,  should  bend 
their  energies  to  the  task  of  selecting  and  arranging  what  in  Scripture 
is  of  highest  value.  In  your  Sunday  schools  you  can  only  eflfect  an 
introduction  to  Scripture  lore — such  an  introduction  as  will  on  the  one 
hand  convey  great  lessons  of  saving  truth,  and  on  the  other  will  open 
the  way  to  further  and  deeper  knowledge.  To  read  the  Scriptures 
with  your  scholars, — that  is,  to  read  such  fragments  of  Scripture  as  the 
time  at  command  and  the  scholars'  capacity  will  permit, — is  of  great 
importance ;  but  still  more  important  is  it  to  teach  them  how  to  read 
the  Bible  for  themselves.  For,  humiliating  as  the  fact  may  be,  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  the  art  of  intelligent  and  profitable  Bible 
reading  is  one  that  multitudes  even  of  Christian  people  never  attain. 
The  popular  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures  is  something  portentous. 
Partly,  I  think,  the  cause  may  be  found  in  the  miscellaneousness  of 
pulpit  texts,  and  the  way  in  which  contexts  are  disregarded.  The 
old  saying  is  :  "  You  cannot  see  the  forest  for  the  trees ;  "  may  we  not 
find  a  parallel  here  :  "  You  cannot  see  the  Bible  for  the  texts  ?  " 

Last  year,  I  read  in  an  Americaiu  publication,  "  the  President  of  a 
well  known  college  gave  an  account  in  the  Neiv  York  Independent  of 
an  experiment  which  he  had  just  been  making  in  his  freshman  class, 
with  a  view  to  testing  the  knowledge  of  tlie  Bible  possessed  by  yoimg 
men  entering  college.  There  were  thirty-four  members  in  the  class. 
He  wrote  out  on  the  blackboard  twenty-two  extracts  from  Tennyson. 
Each  one  of  these  extracts  contained  an  allusion  to  some  Scripture 
event,  or  Scripture  scene,  or  Scripture  passage  supposably  familiar  to 
everybody.  The  young  men  averaged  about  twenty  years  of  age. 
They  were  the  sons  of  lawyers,  teachers,  doctors,  preachers,  farmers. 
They  had  grown  up  in  well-to-do  homes,  and  more  than  half  of  them 
were  church  members.  What  was  the  result  of  the  experiment  ? 
Nine  of  the  thirty-four  failed  to  understand  the  quotation — 

'  Jfy  siu  was  as  a  thorn  among  the  thorns  that  girt  Thy  brow.' 

Eleven  did  not  know  what  was  referred  to  by  the  '  manna  in  the 
wilderness.'  Sixteen  knew  nothing  about  the  wrestling  of  Jacob 
with  the  angel.  Twenty-six  were  ignorant  of  '  Joshua's  moon,'  and 
twenty  eight  of  '  Jonah's  gourd.'  Twenty-two  were  unable  to 
explain  the  allusion  to  Baal ;  one  thought  that  Baal  was  a  priest, 
who  put  Christians  to  death.  Nineteen  had  apparently  never  read 
the  idyll  of  Kuth  and  Boaz.  Eighteen  did  not  know  the  meaning  of 
'  Egyi^tian  darkness.'  Twenty-four  were  unable  to  write  anything 
about  '  Jacob's  ladder.'  Sixteen  could  not  explain  what  was  meant 
by  '  the  deathless  angel  seated  by  the  vacant  tomb.'  Thirty-two  out 
of  the  thirty-four  young  men  had  never  heard  of  the  shadow  turning 
back  on  the  dial  for  Hezekiah's  lengthening  life ;  one  of  them,  trying 


146  World's  Third 

to  explain  the  matter,  thought  that  Hezekiah  stopped  the  sun.  Oht? 
young  man  explained  the  mark  set  upon  Cain  by  saying  tiiat  he  was 
a  farmer  and  had  to  work  hard.     And  so  it  went  on  to  the  end." 

A  similar  story,  no  doubt,  eould  be  told  of  many  a  group  of  young 
Englishmen ! — Yes,  it  may  be  said,  Imt  all  this  relates  to  the  Bible  on 
its  literary  side.  Are  tliere  not  deeper  meanings  and  spiritual  trutlis 
that  may  be  effectually  gra.sped,  even  by  such  as  may  miss  the  point 
of  all  such  allusions?  Happily  it  may  be  so;  yet  the  way  to  the 
deeper  meaning  and  spiritual  truth  is,  after  all,  through  the  letter, 
well  studied  and  adequately  understood.  The  Divine  order  in  com- 
municating truth  is  not  to  be  undervalued ;  and  those  will  be  wisest 
unto  salvation  who  can  fall  in  with  this  order,  and  so  interijret  tlie 
great  history  aright.  That  history,  we  know,  is  now  to  a  greater 
extent  than  ever  in  the  crucible  of  criticism.  Old  and  young  are 
loosely  told  that  it  is  discredited  in  many  a  vital  part  by  modern 
research.  Our  sense  of  reverence,  our  instincts  of  devotion,  our  grati- 
tude for  the  blessings  of  redenii)tion,  are  up  in  arms  as  against  some 
strange  profanation.  But,  it  is  to  be  feared,  men  sometimes  strike  out 
blindly.  I  have  heard  invectives  against  modern  theories  and  tlie 
higher  criticism,  which  have  evinced  the  most  jirofound  ignorance  :,s 
to  what  that  criticism  really  is,  iu  process  and  result.  The  whole 
question  is  far  too  large  for  discussion  now.  Only  let  us  assert  tlie 
principle,  for  it  lies  at  the  very  ground  of  our  International  Lesson 
Svstem,  that  it  is  of  prime  importance  to  present  the  Bible  history, 
with  its  gradual  unfolding  of  the  great  salvation,  and  as  illumined  by 
prophecy,  psalm,  and  epistle,  in  the  OUi  Testament  and  the  New,  so 
that  every  teaclier  may  apprehend  it  in  its  order  and  significance  as 
one  mighty  scheme  of  truth. 

What  we  are  trying  to  do,  then,  is  just  tiiis,  to  secure  so  far  as 
possible  a  knowledge  of  Scripture,  not  only  in  separate  portions,  but 
as  a  whole ;  having  respect  to  three  things — first,  the  relative  import- 
ance of  the  different  parts  of  tlie  Bible ;  secondly,  their  comparative 
intelligibility  to  the  young ;  and  thirdly,  the  amount  of  time  at  the 
teacher's  disposal. 

But  here  a  serious  diificulty  meets  us.  We  must  have  respect  to 
the  proportion  of  truth.  Ou  tiie  one  hand,  tlie  Old  Testament  is  a 
much  larger  book  than  the  New,  and  on  the  other  the  New  is  by  far 
the  more  intelligible  and  practically  important.  No  scheme  could  be 
endured  that  would  begin  at  Genesis,  and  go  straight  through  t') 
Revelation,  deferring  to  the  end  of  the  course  that  which  the  learner 
most  needs  to  know,  as  the  very  foundation  of  spiritual  life.  Hence 
the  peculiarity  of  our  scheme  is  such,  that  while  the  historical  order 
is  strictly  followed  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Gospel  History  is 
repeated,  from  time  to  time,  tliroughout  each  six  years'  course — in 
different  aspects — now  by  way  of  a  "  harmony,''  now  by  the  study  of 
individual  evangelists;  each  method,  it  is  conceived,  having  its  own 
separate  value.  Or,  to  come  for  a  moment  or  two  to  details:  Instead 
of  the  six  years'  course — which,  by-thc-way,  I  am  inclined  to  think  still 


Sunday  School  (Jonvention.  147 

too  long — let  us  just,  beginning  January,  1884,  take  the  five  years' 
lessons  ending  next  Christmas.  Divide  the  series  into  twenty,  each 
occupying  a  quarter  of  a  year.  Now,  of  these  twenty  quarters, 
eight  (including  the  first  six  months  of  the  course)  are  occupied  with 
the  Old  Testament,  twelve  with  the  New ;  and  of  the  twelve  devoted 
to  the  New  Testament,  eight  are  given  to  the  Life  and  Words  of  our 
Lord,  and  four  to  those  of  the  Apostles,  iucluding  not  only  the  Book  ot 
Acts,  but  select  illustrative  readings  from  the  Epistles.  Moreover, 
of  the  eight  quarters  occupied  with  the  Gospel  Historj',  four,  consecu- 
tively, have  been  spent  in  considering  a  carefully-arranged  scheme 
formed  by  a  harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels.  After  an  interval  of  six 
months,  given  to  the  earlier  Old  Testament  history,  from  Genesis  to 
the  First  Book  of  Samuel,  teachers  and  scholars  returned  to  the 
Gospel  History  as  given  in  Luke  alone,  which  book  occupies  six  months 
more.  There  was  then  a  return  for  half  a  year  to  the  Old  Testament ; 
the  Second  Book  of  Samuel,  and  the  First  of  Kings.  The  whole  of 
the  year  following  was  taken  up  by  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church,  as  narrated  in  the  Acts  and  illustrated  in  the  Letters  of  the 
Apostles ;  and  those  of  you  who  spent  the  year  1897  on  this  series  of 
subjects  will  be  able  to  tell  whether  you  were  not  able  to  make  them 
deeply  interesting,  even  fascinating,  to  the  young  people.  Then,  in 
the  present  year  1898,  you  returned  once  more  to  the  Life  of  Christ ; 
this  time  as  contained  in  Matthew's  Gospel  alone.  These  lessons  yoxi 
have  just  completed;  and,  for  the  rest  of  the  year,  you  will  be  con- 
sidering the  deeply-interesting  story  of  the  Hebrew  monarchies,  as 
narrated  in  the  latter  portions  of  Kings  and  Chronicles,  with  prophetic 
passages  from  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  carefully  selected  on  account  of 
the  cross-lights  that  they  throw  upon  the  events  and  personages  of  the 
history. 

An  examination  of  any  five,  or  seven,  or  more  consecutive  years  of 
the  course  would  bring  out  corresponding  results,  as  to  the  proportion- 
ate arrangement  of  the  Lessons.  Take,  for  instance,  the  fifteen  years 
ending  with  the  close  of  1898.  Divided  into  sixty  quarters,  we  find 
almost  exactly  the  same  proportion.  That  is,  there  are  thirty-five  for 
the  New  Testament  and  twenty-five  for  the  Old  ;  and  of  the  thirty-five, 
twenty-two  are  occupied  with  the  Gospel  History,  and  thirteen  with 
the  Acts  and  the  Epistles ;  six  months  altogether  of  this  time  being 
devoted,  I  confess,  to  the  Epistles  alone — i.e.  the  last  quarter  of  1886 
and  the  last  quarter  of  1893 ;  and  these  parts  of  the  series  have  no 
doubt  required  much  skill  to  adapt  them  to  the  teacher's  purpose. 
I  remember  many  complaints  at  the  time  of  the  difiiculty  of  these 
particular  lessons.  "  How  can  we  make  them  interesting  to  the  little 
children  ?  "  And  yet,  considering  what  those  Epistles  have  been  to 
the  Church  of  all  time,  considering  also  the  simplicities  of  holy 
teaching  which  are  found  among  their  deepest  and  most  mysterious 
utterances,  this  very  moderate  allotment  of  time  may  seem  not 
altogether  out  of  place. 

Now  in    a    scheme  thus  constructed  what    are  the  drawbacks? 

L  2 


14B  World's  Third 

Unquestionably  this,  chief  of  all,  that  a  course  which  is  tolerably 
complete  for  the  whole  course  of  years  cannot  be  equally  so  for  the 
individual  scholar  who  may  enter  at  any  given  point  of  the  series. 
Much  might  be  said  of  such  a'scholar's  difficulties.  Take  for  example 
the  case  of  an  intelligent  boy  or  girl  who  happened  to  begin  with 
the  lessons  of  1892.  The  first  six  months  of  that  scholar's  course 
would  be  given  to  the  Prophets  and  Psalms,  the  next  six  months  to 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  then,  turning  again  to  the  Old  Testament, 
the  scholar  would  be  occupied  fur  three  montiis  with  the  annals  of 
the  Return  from  the  Captivity,  as  contained  in  the  books  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah ;  with  a  glance  at  the  story  of  Queen  Esther ;  then, 
three  months  of  lessons  from  Job,  Proverbs,  and  Ecclesiastes  ;  three 
months  again  to  finish  witli  the  Acts,  three  months  to  spend  over  the 
Epistles  ;  then,  turning  once  more  to  the  Old  Testament,  six  months 
over  Genesis  and  Exodus ;  and  then,  at  last — at  last !  after  two  years 
and  six  months  of  this  variety  of  subject,  the  Life  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  to  occupy  one  happy  year  !  Now  this  picture,  I  verily  believe, 
is  the  worst  that  can  be  drawn  of  our  International  Lesson  System. 
Can  we  suggest  improvement  ?  In  one  direction,  very  obviously  ;  but 
I  fear  that  the  suggestion  will  not  be  welcomed  at  the  present  stage 
of  Sunday  school  history,  or  even,  if  thought  desirable  in  the  abstract, 
it  will  be  voted  impracticable.  The  suggestion  is  that  there  should 
be  two  lessons  on  the  Sunday ;  so  balanced  that  the  New  Testament 
should  never  be  out  of  sight,  and  that  no  child,  by  any  possibility, 
should  ever  come  into  our  schools  and  remain  two  years  and-a-half 
without  being  led  by  one  prescribed  lesson  of  the  day  to  the  cradle  of 
Bethlehem  or  the  hills  of  Galilee !  The  Sunday  school  teachers  of 
two  hemispheres  will  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  any  one  who  can 
Bet  this  matter  right.  But  meanwhile  the  teacliers  themselves  may 
do  something  to  amend  the  disproportion.  For  one  thing,  it  v.'ould  be 
well  to  pay  more  attention  tlian  is  sometimes  given  to  the  connected 
parallel  and  illustrative  readings  by  which  the  lists  of  lessons  are  now 
accompanied,  and  to  get  the  scholars  to  read  tliese  carefully  during 
the  week.  But,  above  all,  if  they  will  only  bear  in  mind  the  primal 
truth  that  in  the  Bible  there  is  the  unveiling  of  redemption,  that  the 
records  of  the  earliest  times,  the  history  of  Israel,  with  psalm  and 
prophecy,  all  pointed  to  the  Christ  who  was  to  be,  there  will  be,  as 
there  ought  to  be,  something  in  every  lesson  that  leads  to  Him.  To 
this  end  much  insight  is  needed,  a  true  and  even  deep  knowledge  of 
the  Divine  Word,  an  understanding  of  the  purpose  of  the  ages.  But 
these  things  belong  to  tlie  teacher's  qualifications ;  and  those  are 
inapt  for  their  high  task  who  cannot  make  every  lesson  radiant  with 
some  gleams  of  lightjfrom  the  great  story  of  Redemption.  At  the 
same  time,  feeling  as  I  do  the  supreme  importance  of  the  Gospel 
History  in  any  scheme  of  Sunday  school  instruction,  I  cannot  but 
express  my  gratification  that  the  International  Lesson  System  provides 
for  the  whole  of  the  year  1900  and  the  early  part  of  1901  a  course  of 
Lessons  from  the  Evangelists,  extending  over  seventeen  consecutive 


Sunday  School  Convention.  149 

mouths,  and  in  its  completeness  and  adaiitatiou  equul  at  least  to  any 
set  of  lessons  known  to  me,  proposed  for  the  elucidation  of  the  great 
biography 

And  here  let  me  venture  to  repeat  what  seems  to  me  an  important 
suggestion  made  by  Dr.  Monro  Gibson  in  the  Convention  of  1889.  He 
forcibly  argued  that  if  the  Seven  Years'  Lessons  of  any  given  period 
had  successfully  embraced  the  chief  points  of  a  consecutive  Bible 
course,  there  would  be  little  need  of  varying  it  for  another  septennate. 
"  The  work  having  been  carefully  done,  it  might  be  you  should  just 
go  over  the  same  ground  again."  In  this  matter,  I  feel,  it  would  be 
well  to  aim  at  some  standard  that  might  remain  for  all  our  schools — 
not  indeed  a  complete  course  of  Bible  study :  that  would  be  impossi- 
ble, but  such  a  course,  whether  for  seven  years,  or  for  five,  as  might 
appear  best,  as  should  permanently  contain  the  topics  on  which  the 
Christian  teacher  is  bound  to  instruct  his  charge  ;  in  fact,  a  Bible  for 
THE  Young.  The  advantage  of  this  would  be  that  there  might  be 
engrafted  upon  it  some  one  series  of  Lessons  of  lasting  value,  which 
might  iu  a  measure  take  the  place  of  these  very  miscellaneous  Notes 
and  Comments — a  little  bewildering,  and  certainly  of  very  various 
worth — which  are  now  periodically  presented  to  the  teacher.  These 
series  would  be  graded ;  a  point  on  which  much  might  be  said ; 
although  as  yet  comparatively  little  has  been  done.  There  would  be 
a  system  for  the  primary  classes,  another  for  the  more  advanced, 
another  for  tlie  seniors,  and  so  on,  each  containing  the  same  lesson, 
but  in  various  form,  according  to  the  capacity  of  the  learner.  I  know 
that  this  is  being  attempted  in  various  directions :  but  it  does  seem  to 
me  that  the  plan  might  be  carried  out,  with  greatest  hope  of  success, 
in  connection  with  the  International  Lesson  system.  The  best  minds 
among  us  might  well  be  occupied  in  the  preparation  of  such  a  scheme 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  schools  and  the  churches  once  for  all — a 
cycle  of  Bible  instruction,  which  would  lay  the  foundation  in  many  a 
young  mind  of  larger  and  deeper  knowledge  in  years  to  come. 

And  now  in  conclusion ;  I  confess  that  I  have  never  been 
particularly  impressed  by  the  fact  on  which  it  is  common  to  lay 
stress,  that  millions  of  scholars  in  both  hemispheres  are  on  the 
same  Lord's-day  occupied  in  studying  the  same  lesson.  No  doubt 
t.here  is  here  a  certain  appeal  to  the  imagination :  and  as  Dr.  Potts 
has  said,  it  is  unquestionably  interesting.  Still,  I  quite  concur 
with  those  who  caution  us  against  being  led  away  by  mere  senti- 
ment; but,  when  this  caution  is  made  a  ground  of  disparagement 
to  our  system,  I  would  reply  that,  quite  apart  from  any  senti- 
mental considerations,  there  is  an  aspect  of  the  case  which  has  a 
very  practical  utility.  The  effect  of  tlie  simultaneousness  in  these 
lessons  is  that  public  attention  is  concentrated  at  one  time  upon  one 
subject ;  it  is  discussed  in  Sunday  school  periodicals  and  religious 
magazines.  Ministers  take  it  as  a  topic  of  their  sermons.  I  knew 
one — and  there  are  doubtless  many — who  regularly  preached  from  the 
*'  Golden  Text"  at  hi§  week-day  service  for  many  years.     Most  of  hia 


150  World's  Third 

audience  took  the  discourse  simply  as  an  ordinary  sermon,  wondering 
perhaps  sometimes  what  made  it  so  specially  interesting ;  but  the 
teachers  present  were  in  the  secret,  and  stored  up,  that  Wednesday 
or  Tliursday  evening,  ricli  material  for  the  following  Lord's-day. 
After  all,  everything  depends  upon  tlie  manner  in  which  the  scheme 
is  worked  out.  You  may  have  the  best  conceivable  system  of  lessons  ; 
but  the  treatment  of  them  will  determine  their  value — first  in  the 
heliiH  provided,  and  secondly  in  your  own  use  of  them.  The  one 
thing  to  be  dreaded,  if  I  may  use  a  familiar  word,  is  cram.  To  get 
up  a  series  of  lessons  is  not  to  study  the  Scriptures.  The  fragments 
of  truth  must  be  "  fitly  framed  together  "  in  your  minds — otherwise 
they  will  remain  but  fragments  after  all,  and  be  scattered  and  lost 
when  their  immediate  work  is  done.  The  true  teacher  is  one  who 
has  studied  the  Scriptures  quite  independently  of  the  claims  of  the 
hour.  He  knows  his  lesson,  if  I  may  eo  say,  befoie  he  begins  to  study 
it  for  his  class  ;  and  that  study  does  but  help  him  to  set  in  order  that 
which  is  already  in  his  mind,  giving  to  it  adaptation,  point  and 
power:  while  by  meditation  and  prayer  he  not  only  refreshes  his 
knowledge  but  deepens  those  holy  sympathies  through  which  he  will 
not  only  arouse  the  interest  but  will  touch  the  hearts  of  these  whom 
it  is  ever  his  supreme  desire  to  bring  to  Christ. 
The  hymn — 

"  We  bless  Thee  for  Thy  will  made  known," 

was  then  sung. 

The  Chairman  :  Perhaps  it  is  not  out  of  the  way  for  me  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  hymn  in  which  we  have  just  joined  was 
written  by  one  of  the  members  of  the  London  Committee  and  one  of 
the  secretaries  of  the  Sunday  School  Union,  Mr.  Groser  (cheers). 

I  wish  to  give  notice  that,  at  some  session  during  this  Convention,  I 
propose  to  oft'er  for  the  consideration,  not  necessarily  for  the  adoption 
or  for  the  action,  of  the  Executive  Committee,  the  suggestion  that 
hereafter  the  meetings  of  this  Convention  shall  be  held,  if  possible,  so 
as  to  coincide  alternately  with  the  meetings  of  the  International 
Convention  that  they  may  be  one.  In  other  words,  as  tlie  Inter- 
national Convention  is  once  in  three  years,  this  siiall  meet  once  in  six. 
We  are  now  ready  to  receive  questions  on  the  Report  of  the  Inter- 
national Lesson  Committee. 

Questions  then  were  sent  up  and  answered  as  follows. 

QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS  ON  THE  INTERNATIONAL 

LESSON  SYSTEM. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Potts  (Canada):  There  are  two  questions  so  much 
alike  that  one  answer  will  suffice.  Tlie  question  is  in  effect : 
"Whether  a  series  of  gospel  lessons  for  infants  is  being  prepared. 
Many  teachers  find  it  impossible  to  teach  successfully  the  lesson  se^ 


Sunday  School  Convention.  151 

out  in  tlio  International  series  to  the  infants.  May  we  have  an 
expression  of  opinion  from  this  meeting  as  to  the  desirability  of 
having  one  series  of  lessons  for  seniors  and  juniors,  and  another  much 
simpler  series  for  the  infants  ?  "  With  regard  to  the  question,  I  may 
say  thut  the  Lesson  Committee  is  in  correspondence  with  the  various 
primary  unions  in  order  to  accomplish  this  very  thing ;  but  I  am 
bound  to  say  that  there  is  such  a  lack  of  unanimity  among  the  primary 
leaders  that  the  International  Lesson  Committee  is  not  able  yet  to 
come  to  a  conclusion.  We  are  anticipating  the  time  when  we  shall 
met't  the  wishes  of  tliose  who  desire  to  have  special  lessons  for  the 
little  ones.  Mr.  George  Sliipway,  from  Birmingham,  asks,  "  Is  it  not 
possible  to  adopt  the  suggestion  that,  when  the  lessons  are  from  such 
books  as  the  Prophets  and  Epistles,  an  alternative  lesson  can  bo 
oifered  for  the  infant  classes?"  A  very  difficult  thing  that  is  to  do, 
because  we,  of  the  Lesson  Committee,  are  in  a  sort  of  covenant  and 
league  with  the  lesson  writers;  and  it  w^ould  scarcely  be  possible  for 
the  lesson  writers  to  provide  the  double  lessons.  But  I  will  lay  this 
important  subject  before  the  next  meeting  of  the  International 
Committee. 

Count  Bernstobff  (Berlin)  :  It  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret  that  the 
International  Lessons  have  not  gained  ground  on  the  continent  of 
Europe.  Even  in  Switzerland  the  lessons  have  again  been  dropped 
for  the  reason  that  it  is  found  impossible,  as  it  also  is  in  Germany  and 
in  the  northern  countries  generally,  to  make  a  system  popular  which 
entirely  ignores  the  ecclesiastical  year.  I  do  not  enter  into  any  dis- 
cussion, but  just  mention  the  subject.  As  far  as  I  know,  the  Danish 
friends  a  few  years  ago  had  a  correspondence  with  the  London  Sunday 
School  Union  on  the  point,  whether  it  would  not  be  possible  to  leave 
the  door  open,  in  the  International  Lesson  plan,  for  Easter  Sunday, 
Christmas  Day,  and  other  Church  festivals.  I  should  like  to  know 
whether  any  result  has  come  from  that  communication,  and  whether 
it  would  be  in  any  way  possible  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  continental 
friends  in  this  particular  (hear,  hear). 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Potts  (Canada)  :  It  would  be  extremely  diflflcult  for 
the  International  Lesson  Committee  to  adopt  what  is  known  as  the 
Ecclesiastical  Year,  but  there  is  a  tendency  in  that  direction.  Indeed, 
I  know  that  the  editor  of  an  episcopalian  paper  in  Toronto,  Canada, 
adopts  the  International  scheme  of  Lessons,  but,  for  special  festivals  of 
the  Church,  prepares  a  lesson  peculiarly  adapted  to  each  of  these 
festivals.  We  do  already  recognise,  by  optional  lessons,  Christmas 
and  Easter,  and  there  has  been  a  tendency  in  the  direction  of  recog- 
nising Pentecost.  Would  tliat  we  had  a  glorious  Pentecost  on  all  our 
Sunday  school  work  !     (Amen.) 

The  Chairman  tlieti  called  upon  the  Rev.  W,  J.  Mills  to  read  a  paper, 


152  World's  Third 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  BIBLE  HEADING  ASSOCIATION. 
Ly  the  Hev.  W.  J.  Mills  {Londini). 

In  April  1879  the  Children's  Scripture  Union  was  establislied  in 
cimuectioii  with  the  Children's  Special  Service  Mission.  I^ast  year 
this  Society  issued  52G,000  cards  in  Great  Britain,  93,000  cards  in  the 
Colonies  and  the  United  States,  and  100,000  in  twenty-nine  foreign 
languages.  In  1884  The  Church  of  England  Bible  Heading  Union 
was  started  by  The  Church  of  England  Sunday  School  lustitutc,  and 
ill  1897  had  a  membership  of  56,000.  The  readings  of  this  Society 
arc  especially  arranged  to  include  The  Lessons  for  Saints  Day.s  and 
Holy  Days.  Some  mouths  since  our  Wesleyan  friends  inaugurated 
"The  Wesley  (Juild  Bible  and  Prayer  Union"  from  whicli  great 
things  may  be  expected. 

That  splendid  missing  link  of  our  churches  and  Sunday  schools 
discovered  in  America  by  the  Rev.  F.  E.  Clark,  The  Christian 
Endeavour  Society,  whilst  not  a  Bible-reading  association  in  name,  is 
one  in  fact,  as  its  members  pledge  themselves  to  read  the  Bible  every 
day,  and  in  the  Christian  Endeavour  Paper  portions  of  the  Scriptures 
are  selected  for  daily  reading,  bearing  on  the  prayer-meeting  topics. 
But  the  association  with  wliich  this  Convention  is  most  concerned  is 
known  by  those  four  letters,  I.B.E.A.  No  magical  formula  this,  and 
yet  it  possesses  a  more  magnetic  potency  than  any  of  the  famous 
letter  charms  of  the  ancient  East.  Commencing  its  work  in  1882 
■with  an  issue  of  11,000  cards,  it  continued  to  grow  under  the  fostering 
care  of  its  honorary  secretary,  Mr.  Charles  Waters,  until  it  reached, 
last  year,  the  colossal  issue  of  G20,000  English  membership  cards.  In 
addition  to  this  the  card  has  been  translated  into  no  less  than  twenty- 
nine  foreign  languages,  thus  every  year  more  and  more  justifying  its 
claim  to  the  title  The  International  Bible  Reading  Association. 
Surely  there  is  no  force  at  work  in  the  world  more  mighty  than  this 
for  bringing  in  the  golden  age  of  universal  brotherhood.  This 
association  includes  in  its  membership  persons  of  every  evangelical 
denomination,  and  is  a  demonstration  of  the  real  union,  at  the  core,  of 
all  the  churches  of  Christ.  We  are  no  more  divided  than  the  States 
of  America  are  divided.  Each  has  its  own  geographical  boundary, 
but  the  star-spangled  banner  floats  over  all.  We  are  all  loyal  to  one 
Sovereign,  Jesus,  the  Christ  of  God! 

Still,  as  yet  we  do  not  see  the  Master's  prayer  nnswered  "  that  they 
all  might  be  one."  There  is  a  great  yearning  in  the  churches  for  this 
visible  unity,  and  I  know  of  nothing  more  likely  to  bring  it  about 
than  for  us  all  to  get  back  to  the  fountain  of  revelation,  and  to  drink 
from  the  strciim  that  flows  from  the  Throne  of  (iod.  These  associa- 
tions supply  a  real  icant  of  the  times.  The  age  in  which  we  live  is  a 
reading  one.  The  numbers  of  papers,  periodicals,  and  books  yearly 
poured  forth  by  the  printing  press  are  fabulous,  and  in  the  eflort  to  be 


Sunday  School  Convention.  153 

np  to  date  with  our  reading  there  is  a  danger  of  the  Bible  being 
neglected.  The  pressure  of  business,  the  necessity  of  recreation,  the 
attractions  and  opportunities  of  pleasure,  and  the  news  of  the  entire 
world  awaiting  us  every  morning  at  the  breakfast  table,  emphasize 
this  difficulty.  An  illiterate  man  was  converted ;  he  was  anxious  to 
learn  to  read,  and  his  Bible  was  ever  in  his  hands.  One  day  the 
minister  called  and  asked  his  wife  how  he  was  getting  on. 
"  Famously  1 "  was  her  reply.  "  Is  he  able  to  read  the  Testament  ?  " 
"  Oh,  he  is  through  the  Testament,"  was  her  glad  answer.  "The  Old 
Testament  ?  "  further  inquired  the  pastor.  To  which  she  added,  "  He 
is  out  of  the  Bible  into  the  newspaper."  Sir,  and  Brethren,  it  is  at 
our  peril  that  we  neglect  our  Bibles.  The  ministry  cannot  afford  to 
neglect  it.  The  Eev.  J.  H.  Jowett,  M.A.,  recently  stated  that  the 
late  George  Miiller  of  Bristol  once  laid  his  hand  on  his  shoulder,  in 
the  vestry  of  Carr's  Lane,  Birmingham,  and  said,  "  For  sixty-five 
years  I  have  read  six  chapters  of  the  Bible  daily."  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  he  was  a  giant  in  faith  and  works  ?  It  is  such  men  that  we  want 
in  our  pulpits :  men  mighty  in  the  Scriptures.  The  Church  cannot 
aiford  to  neglect  it.  She  has  but  one  foundation,  it  is  "  the  apostles 
and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone." 
She  has  but  one  bulwark  of  her  Protestantism,  it  is  an  intelligent 
knowledge  of  the  Scripture.  Put  the  Bible  into  the  hands  of  the 
people  and  there  will  be  no  danger  of  the  people  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  priests.  Society  cannot  afford  to  neglect  it :  it  is  the 
basis  of  a  pure  and  happy  domestic  life.  Commerce  cannot  aflbrd  to 
neglect  it:  honesty  underlies  commercial  prosperity,  and  the  Book 
teaches  that  "  A  false  balance  is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord."  The 
nation  cannot  afford  to  neglect  it:  "Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation, 
but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people." 

Let  us  teach  our  young  people  that  the  Bible  is  not  out  of  date 
when  childhood  is  over;  it  is  a  book  for  life,  it  is  not  "  the  book  of  the 
month,"  it  is  the  book  of  the  ages ;  it  has  not  an  ephemeral  glory,  but 
an  immortality.  It  is  the  Word  of  God,  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit. 
Thus  taught,  we  may  place  them  beneath  the  dome  of  the  reading- 
room  in  the  British  Museum,  and  surround  them  with  all  the  books 
of  ancient  and  modern  times,  and  they  will  choose  the  Bible  from 
among  them  all,  saying,  as  David  did  of  the  sword  of  Goliath, 
"  There  is  none  like  that ;  give  it  me." 

Again,  organisation  seems  to  be  the  sine  qua  non  of  success  in  the 
religious  world.  It  is  well  known  in  the  Church  and  in  benevolent 
circles  how  old  institutions  suffer  because  of  the  multiplication  of  new 
ones,  and  the  vigour  with  which  they  are  brought  under  public  notice  ; 
it  is  therefore  imperative  that  we  should  have  an  organised  system, 
throbbing  with  a  vital  force,  to  secure  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Word 
of  God  in  the  lives  of  the  people.  We  have  the  water  of  life,  we  want 
to  lay  it  on  to  every  house  and  family  in  the  world.  In  our  Sunday 
Schools,  our  International  Lesisons,  and  our  I.B.R.A.,  we  have  the 
means  of  doing  it. 


154  World's  Third 

The  mention  of  these  three  institutions  directs  us  to  the  special 
sphere  of  the  I.B.R.A. :  the  School  and  the  Home.  First,  on  Monday 
morning  tlio  teacher  and  scholar  begin  to  read  portions  of  Scripture 
lieariug  on  the  subject  fixed  for  the  next  Sabbath's  lesson.  In  this 
way  tiiey  are  prepared  to  take  an  intelligent  interest  in  the  lesson 
when  the  Sabbath  arrives ;  if  faithfully  pursued  it  must  secure  better 
teachers  and  better  hearers. 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  a  means  of  reaching  the  parents  of  the 
children.  For  some  time  it  has  been  apparent  to  me  that  the  family 
is  the  true  unit  of  Christian  work.  The  family — not  the  individual  I 
If  we  teach  the  truth  to  the  child  on  the  Sunday,  and  then  commit  it 
to  the  influences  of  a  bad  home  for  the  remainder  of  the  week,  it  will 
bo  nothing  less  than  a  miracle  if  the  development  of  its  character  is 
what  we  desire.  By  some  means  we  must  reach  the  parents.  In  our 
football  and  cricket  games,  as  well  as  in  the  sterner  tactics  of  war,  it 
is  combination  tliat  wins,  and  it  is  more  combination  in  Christian 
work,  to  tackle  every  member  of  the  family,  that  is  likely  to  give  us 
the  victory.  In  the  child-member  of  the  I.B.R.A.  reading  his 
daily  portion  in  the  home  there  is  a  living  witness  for  Christ  and  the 
Church. 

Much  remains  to  be  done.  In  our  own  land  there  are  more  than  a 
million  young  people  who  ought  to  be  enrolled  among  our  readers 
with  the  least  possible  delay.  In  two  denominations  in  the  United 
States,  namely,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  the  Baptist  Churches, 
there  are  about  six  million  scholars,  and  only  about  eleven  thousand 
members  of  this  society.  At  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the  Branch 
Secretaries,  held  at  the  Old  Bailey  on  March  29th,  it  was  resolved 
that  we  should  do  our  iitmost  to  secure  one  million  English  readers 
by  the  annual  meeting  of  1901.  I  appeal  to  the  English-speaking 
Brotherhood  of  this  Convention  to  join  us  in  this  elFort. 

In  conducting  this  institution  I  maintain  that  we  should  ever  heep 
before  ms  the  object  for  ivhich  it  ^cas  established.  No  idea  must  be 
allowed  to  get  abroad  that  it  is  a  means  of  raising  money.  And  yet  I 
do  not  feel  that  I  should  be  right  in  closing  this  paper  without  a 
reference  to  the  fact,  that  it  is  by  means  of  u  halfpenny  subscription 
sent  voluntarily  by  many  members  of  the  I.B.R.A.,  that  we  were 
able  to  send  the  saintly  and  devoted  Dr.  Phillips  to  initiate  the  grand 
work  of  Sunday  school  extension  in  India.  We  believe  his  mantle 
has  fallen  on  his  successor,  the  Rev.  R.  Burges,  who  has  shown 
untiring  zeal  in  the  work. 

But  how  about  China  ?  We  have  heard  much  of  an  open  door  for 
commerce,  brethren,  can  we  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?  Sec, 
(iiod  has  set  before  us  an  open  door.  Has  not  the  time  come  for 
sending  a  Sunday  school  missionary  to  do  for  China's  children  what 
•we  are  doing  for  the  little  ones  of  India?  Let  this  World's  Third 
Sunday  School  Convention  find  our  brethren  of  Canada  and  the 
United  States  returning  home  resolved  to  organize  Bible  reading 
among  their  own  children,  and  by  means  of  small  subscriptions  scfld 


Sunday  School  Convention.  155 

a  missionary  to  organize  Sunday  schools  in  China.  The  hope  of  that 
great  and  interesting  country  is  in  her  chihlren.  If  this  is  done,  onco 
again  shall  Isaiah's  prophecy  blossom  into  life  and  beauty :  "  The 
people  that  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a  great  light :  they  that 
dwell  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  upon  them  hath  the  light 
sbined." 
The  bymn, 

"  Book  of  grace,   Book  of  glory," 

was  sutig,  and  the  Benediction  was  pronounced  by  the   Rev.  J,  D, 
Lament,  of  Dublin, 


THE  CONVENTION  SERMON. 
By  the  Eev.  Dr.  Parkeb. 

At  the  close  of  the  Tenth  Session  on  Friday  morning  (July  15th), 
a  sermon  was  preached  to  members  of  the  Convention  by  the  Eev. 
Dr.  Parker,  in  the  City  Temple,  Holborn  Viaduct. 

After  the  hymn — 

"  Hark,  the  song  of  Jubilee," 

had  been  sung.  Dr.  Parker  read  a  brief  passage  of  Scripture — "  I  went 
by  the  field  of  the  slothful,  and  by  the  vineyard  of  the  man  void  of 
understanding  ;  and,  lo,  it  was  all  grown  over  with  thorns,  and  nettles 
had  covered  the  face  thereof,  and  the  stone  wall  thereof  was  brokeu  " 
(Prov.  xxiv.,  30-31) ;  after  prayer  another  hymn  was  sung — 

''  Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  " 

"  Subdue  the  Eabth." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Parker,  selecting  his  text  from  Gen.  1.,  28,  said : — 
The  text  is  in  two  words  and  in  three  syllables — "  Subdue  it." 
Subdue  it — keep  it  under;  you  will  iiave  a  fight;  but  you  can 
succeed  if  you  will.  Subdue  it,  for  the  Lord  said,  in  the  Book  of 
Genesis,  in  which  Book  there  is  everything  that  is  worth  knowing, 
"  Replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it."  Keep  it  under.  He  said  this 
from  the  very  first.  The  Spirit,  which  is  the  God  of  the  dew  and  of 
the  morning  star,  reads  His  lesson,  audibly  and  lovingly,  early  in  the 
morning,  to  man,  "  See,  set  your  foot  upon  it,  and  keep  it  there." 

It  is  one  of  two  tilings — either  this  earth  will  subdue  you,  or  jou 
must  subdue  the  earth.  But  has  there  been  any  alteration  of  the 
law?  Not  a  whit.  Adam  still  comes  to  God  for  his  lesson  and 
God  still  gives  it,  and  God  never  changes  it.  Subdue  the  earth! 
The  earth  under  your  feet,  the  earth  as  part  of  the  man,  must 
always  be  kept  in  a  certain  relation  to  the  man  and  kept  in  a  certain 
f elation  by  him.     Snub  it,  rebuke  it,  resist  it,  stand  on  it;  be  a  man. 


166  World's  Thinl 

Many  people  liave  got  a  wrong  idea.  They  say,  "We  are  but  dust 
and  ashes."  No,  that  is  not  so.  "  You  know  tlie  weakness  of  the 
liesh  "  and  the  strength  of  the  Spirit.  "  You  know  that  we  are  but 
dust."  No,  and  Deity.  You  can  tlius  work  on  cither  point  of  your 
nature  that  you  pleuse :  from  tlie  dust  point  and  go  down  ;  from  the 
Spirit  point  and  go  up ;  from  the  flesli  and  go  down  to  death  and 
corruption  ;  from  the  soul  up  to  eternal  sunsliine.  Which  sliall  it  1)0? 
The  devil  said  to  you,  "  You  must  have  sometliiiig  to  drink.  You 
must  not  reject  the  good  creatures  and  the  outward  bounty  of  (ioJ. 
You  must  cultivate  tlie  flesh."  You  did  it,  and  you  are  dead.  And 
now  the  blessed  Liglit  comes,  the  loving  Christ.  I  see  on  every  line 
of  thy  face  some  growing  beauty  caught  from  tbc  upper  places,  from 
high  communion  with  the  Spirit  and  with  God.  You  young  people 
can  take  your  clioice.  There  is  a  way  of  feeding  the  flesh  only.  If 
you  like,  you  can  starve  the  soul :  you  have  the  liberty,  but  not  the 
right,  to  do  ij. 

Now  let  us  hear  God's  commanding  word.  I  detect  a  high  impera- 
tive in  this  controlling  decree  and  injunction :  "  Subdue  it ;  "  keep  it 
under,  chain  it,  smite  it,  defy  it,  make  it  serve  its  first  and  legitimate 
use. 

I  wonder  why  this  word  should  have  been  so  early  sijoken.  The 
earth  had  had  no  time  to  do  anything.  But  God  must  reveal  the 
earth  to  us,  as  well  as  reveal  us  to  ourselves,  and  reveal  Himself  to  us. 
The  whole  business  and  function  of  revelation  are  with  God.  It  is 
for  God  to  tell  us  what  to  do  with  things.  "  Subdue  the  earth  ?  " 
''  There  is  more  in  the  earth  than  you  see.  It  is  fighting  earth,  militaTit 
dust.  What  I  say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all,  age  after  age,  subdue  it, 
utilise  it,  sanctify  it."  It  is  curious  that  this  word  should  have  been 
spoken  before  the  earth  had  time  to  turn  prodigal.  Why,  the  earth 
was  barely  formed,  as  we  reckon  time.  Wo  have  muzzled  the  Bible, 
and  yet  God  reveals  the  earth  to  us.  He  says,  "  It  is  a  lovely  little 
star  and  a  beautiful  little  thing  in  its  own  way,  if  you  take  it  from 
the  right  point  and  use  it  in  the  right  manner.  It  is,  of  course,  one 
of  the  smallest  but  one  of  the  loveliest  of  all  the  star  family.  But, 
have  done,  stand  up  and  listen.  Subdue  it.  Never  give  it  one 
moment's  advantage  over  you,  from  the  first,  put  the  muzzle  on  it  and 
keep  it  there."  Well,  we  have  lived  long  enough  to  sec  how  won- 
drously  true  all  tiiis  was.     It  is  true  to-day. 

I  understand  that  therer  are  some  friends  here  from  a  great  distance. 
I  will  speak  to  the  very  youngest  and  humblest  of  them,  and  say  that 
we  have  in  this  country,  we  have  in  this  London,  which  wants  a 
whole  map  to  itself,  a  place  called  the  Gardens  of  Kew — botanical 
gardens  containing  specimens  of  all  manner  of  curious,  rare,  and 
valuable  plants — and  the  whole  of  the  gardens  are  kept  neatly 
trimmed  with  the  utmost  care,  and  with  every  sign  and  evidence  of 
culture.  Now  let  us  leave  these  gardens  to  themselves  for  three 
months.  Surely  the  gardeners  may  all  take  a  holiday  for  one  little 
quarter  of  a  year !    Everything  has  been  trimmed  up  to  the  very  finest 


Sunday  School  Convention.  157 

point.  "  Gardeners,  go  home  and  shut  the  gates,  and  don't  open 
them  again  until  three  montha  liave  expired ;  and  then  come  back  to 
Kew."  Where  is  it  ?  I  don't  know.  Could  it  not  live  three  months 
upon  the  culture  it  had  already  received  ?  No,  nor  three  days.  What 
has  the  man  of  science  said?  He  told  me  in  a  book  the  other  day 
that,  if  you  left  your  garden  in  ever  so  perfect  and  lovely  a  condition, 
and  left  it  to  take  care  of  itself,  the  weeds  would  come  up  and  choke 
the  flowers.  But  won't  the  flowers  arise  and  choke  the  weeds? 
Never.  What!  Shall  a  thorn  choke  a  rose?  Yes.  Can  a  rose 
overcome  the  thorn  ?  No.  Why  not  ?  Ask  the  creator  of  the  whole 
mystery.     AVeeds  conquer  flowers. 

It  is  the  same  with  your  house.  The  law  of  dilapidation  runs 
through  the  whole  economy  of  things.  The  law  of  deterioration  or 
reversion,  the  type  of  retrogression,  you  may  put  it  into  a  syllable 
that  fits  the  mouth — the  dust.  It  is  the  law  of  pulling  things  down, 
tearing  things  to  pieces.  That  law  operates  in  the  construction  and 
management  of  your  own  house.  You  have  no  sooner  got  the  roof  on 
than  Nature  begins  to  take  the  roof  off.  Nature  will  not  have  roofs. 
The  earth  will  not  have  buildings.  You  have  no  sooner  got  up  the 
sanctuary,  and  robed  the  priest  and  got  him  to  say  the  first  prayer  at 
the  altar,  than  Nature  has  begun  to  take  the  roof  off.  If  you  leave 
Nature  alone  she  will  pull  the  house  down.  You  came  from  America, 
or  Sweden,  or  Germany,  or  elsewhere :  you  locked  up  your  house, 
said,  "  It  will  be  all  right  until  I  get  back,"  and  left  the  key  with  a 
neighbour.  When  you  get  back  you  will  simply  ask  your  neighbour 
to  furnish  you  with  the  key  you  left  with  him,  and  you  will  find 
it  all  right.  Never ;  you  will  find  all  wrong — dusty,  mouldy,  mossy 
green.  What  spite  had  Nature  against  you  and  your  house?  I 
don't  know,  but  I  do  know  that  it  is  the  same  all  through ;  and 
throughout  this  man  system  and  this  material  framework  and 
construction  there  is  the  industry  of  dilapidation.  That  is  why  so 
much  work  is  needed  in  your  house,  I  will  tell  you  how  it  comes 
to  be  needed.  First  of  all,  because  it  is  not  always  well  done  ; 
and  secondly,  there  is  a  mystery  that  is  dead  against  you  in  every 
piece  of  furniture  you  have  got.  If  I  could  succeed  in  working  that 
fact  into  every  mind  and  turning  it  into  a  living  and  controlling 
conviction,  there  would  take  place  from  this  day  one  of  the  greatest 
revivals  of  religion  ever  known  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Ciiurch. 

Now  it  is  along  that  line  that  we  find  mystery  upon  mj^stery,  and 
get  fact  upon  fact.  It  is  the  law  of  the  mind ;  I  must  always  be 
thinking,  or  reading,  or  conferring,  or  in  some  way  keeping  my  mind 
up  to  the  mark.  You  could  so  gorge  yourself  as  to  work  in  yourself 
the  sure  consciousness  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  you  to  take 
another  mouthful  during  the  next  fortnight.  That  is  what  men 
do  with  their  minds.  How  do  many  people  act  in  relation  to  the 
vineyards  of  their  lives  ?  They  take  in  a  penny  morning  paper,  and 
they  never  read   any  of  the  literature  in  it;   but  they  do  read  all 


168  World's  Third 

the  gossip,  and  all  the  divorce  caees,  and  all  the  sensational  para- 
graphs ;  and  provided  there  are  not  suflScient  of  these,  they  say, 
"  There  is  nothing  in  the  paper  this  morning."  You  say  that 
is  called  reading,  storing  the  mind.  No;  reading  is  continuous, 
thoughtful,  cumulative,  critical,  going  back  upon  itself,  and  then 
going  forward  in  the  spirit  of  review,  and  in  the  spirit  of  fore- 
cast. Unless  we  keep  up  our  minds  in  that  way  they  will  deteriorate 
like  the  botanical  gardens,  like  the  shut-up  house,  like  everything 
that  goes  down  in  proportion  as  it  is  neglected.  It  is  not  one  thunder- 
ehower  that  waters  the  earth  for  the  whole  summer ;  it  is  the  dew  of 
the  morning  and  the  dew  of  the  night,  and  the  occasional  rich  rain 
that  God  shakes  over  the  green  places  of  the  earth  ;  it  is  the  con- 
tinuous ministry  that  God  conducts  that  keeps  the  earth  young  and  green . 
So  it  is  with  worship  ;  you  must  keep  it  up.  Shall  I  tell  some  of  you 
friends  from  other  places  -what  they  do  in  England  now  ?  They  have 
discovered,  in  many  instances,  that  once  a  day  at  church  is  enough ; 
and  they  are  going  down,  and  they  are  in  some  instances  going  down 
visibly.  There  is  no  one  service  that  is  going  to  keep  us  alive  and 
at  the  highest  and  best  level  and  best  tone  of  life ;  it  is  service  after 
service,  regular,  steady  culture,  scientific  attention.  Without  such 
attention  the  mind  will  wizen  and  wither,  and  become  rank  and 
sterile. 

To  my  brother  ministers  I  would  preach  this  as  a  word  of  cheer.  If 
they  leave  your  ministry,  they  cannot  profit  by  doing  so,  and  they  will 
be  the  first  to  blame  you.  They  take  the  morning  service  and  neglect 
all  the  other  services  of  the  week  ;  and  if  anything  should  happen  to 
them  in  the  way  of  spiritual  conviction  they  will  blame  you.  Oh,  'tia 
wicked,  unjust,  'tis  murder  to  the  pulpit,  when  it  is  thus  abandoned, 
thus  affronted,  and  thus  blasphemed.  No,  this  is  a  matter  of  co-opera- 
tion. We  must  think  together,  cultivate  together,  study  together. 
There  must  be  common  fellowship,  and  out  of  tiiat  marvellous  inter- 
relation of  things  must  come  beauty  of  character,  and  noblencis  of 
manhood. 

"  I  passed  by  the  field  of  the  slothful  and  the  vineyard  of  the  man 
void  of  understanding,  and  lo,  it  was  all  covered  with  thorns,  and 
nettles  covered  the  face  of  it,  and  the  stone  wall  thereof  was  broken 
down."  Nature  that  he  professed  to  worship  was  the  nature  that 
threw  down  the  wall.  He  did  not  take  a  hammer  and  break  the  wall 
down.  Nature  did  that.  Nature  has  to  be  kept  in  j)crpetual  check, 
or  there  is  not  a  granite  wall  on  any  of  your  sea-coasts  that  nature 
will  not  nibble  away. 

It  is,  again  I  say,  one  of  two  things,  either  the  beast  that  is  to  conquer 
the  man,  or  tiie  man  that  is  to  conquer  the  beast. 

Now,  the  greatest  thing  to  subdue  is  self.  If  I  read  the  Bible 
aright,  I  am  told  that  the  man  who  subdues  himself  is  greater  than 
the  man  who  takes  a  city.  Take  the  city  yourself.  You  can  do  it 
througli  Christ's  strength  in  you,  through  the  Holy  Ghost  inspiring 
you.    Through  all  the  comfort  and  nourishment  of  Divine  grace,  you 


Sunday  School  Convention.  159 

Can  capture  yourself  and  stand  for  yourself,  and  wave  God's  banner  in 
sign  of  victory. 

The  Lord  uses  this  word  "  subdue "  in  another  relation.  One 
morning,  oh  Ho  was  so  sad — for  naught  can  be  so  sad  as  wounded  lovo 
— and  looking  upon  His  people,  He  said,  "  Oh,  that  they  had  heark- 
ened unto  Me,  I  would  soon  have  subdued  their  enemies." 

If  you  want  your  war  ended,  you  must  obey  God.  If  you  want  to 
see  war  cease,  you  must  get  behind  the  battle  and  start  for  tlie  true 
point  of  the  causation,  and  then  eflfects  will  follow  in  natural  and  in 
vital  sequence.  Don't  try  to  cobble  things  up  at  the  wrong  end.  Get 
back  to  obedience,  righteousness,  and  justice.  When  a  nation  is  going 
to  war  against  nation,  take  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye;  thou 
thou  shalt  see  more  clearly  how  to  take  the  mote  out  of  thy 
brotlier's  eye. 

AVar  is  a  religious  question.  War  in  every  form  must  be  religiously 
conducted,  if  it  is  to  be  really  successful.  AVar  is  not  a  game  of 
muscles ;  a  mere  pitting  one  against  another  of  bounce,  brag,  and 
defiance.  You  must  know  that  things  are  under  divine  control. 
Therefore,  do  not  mock  the  American  women,  who  are  forming 
themselves,  in  many  places,  into  a  Prayer  Union,  asking  God  to 
relieve  their  country  of  this  great  misery.  Of  course,  if  I  were  a 
journalist  of  a  certain  type,  I  would  laugh,  "  Ha  !  ha !  they  say  they 
are  praying — these  American  women — about  the  war.  Well,  well,  it 
is  very  well;  but  tlie  way  to  end  tlie  war  is  another  leading  article." 
Did  you  ever  know  a  leading  article  end  a  war?  I  don't  mock 
the  children  in  the  Sunday  school,  and  they  pray  that  God 
would  send  peace  upon  the  earth  and  bring  the  nations  into  truer 
relation  to  one  another.  And  shall  I  say  in  this  bravado  and 
confidential  manner  that  I  believe  there  is  a  larger  race  than  even  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  ?  I  am  sorry  to  say  it — it  touches  a  national  trait — 
but  it  is  almost  impossible  for  an  Englishman — and  I  was  never  out  of 
England  until  I  was  over  thirty  years  of  age— to  believe  that  there 
can  really  be  any  civilised  country  except  England.  It  costs  an 
Englishman  a  great  deal  to  believe  that  there  may  be  another 
civilised  country  outside  Great  Britain.  But  there  is  a  larger  race 
tiian  the  race  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  What  is  that  race  ?  The  human 
race.  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  to  dwell  upon 
the  face  of  the  whole  eartli.  But,  of  course,  it  suits  me  to  say  that. 
You  say,  "  Put  your  arm  in  mine  and  we  will  go  down  this  lane  and 
argue  the  matter."  I  say,  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  race  for  ever  ! "  I  will 
not  go  with  you,  because  that  is  not  my  motto. 

We  have  here  to-day,  and  every  day,  in  this  church,  people  from 
France,  and  Germany,  and  Sweden,  and  Africa,  and  many  other  places 
that  are  not  usually  regarded  as  representing  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 
If  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  going  to  work  for  peace  I  am  with  it.  If  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  is  going  to  be  for  the  world,  I  am  with  it;  if 
against  the  world,  I  am  not  witii  it.  "  God  liath  made  of  one  blood," 
and  I  would  like  to  trace  God's  action  among  the  nations,  because 


160  World's  ThirS 

Luther  was  not  what  I  shuiild  call  an  Englishman.  I  am  almost  sure 
be  was  not  an  American,  and  I  believe  the  Australians  could  not 
honestly  ailopt  him.  And  Calvin,  and  the  great  li  aders  of  thought 
all  over  Europe  I  am  with  them,  because  my  cry  is  not  "  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  race."  My  cry  is  Cliri.stian  Protestantism  for  tlie  world.  (Loud 
cheers.)  Protestantism,  but  liberty,  intelligence,  justice,  mutual 
recognition  of  nations,  and  finding  in  every  nation  a  Cornelius,  whose 
works  are  accepted  of  God.  "  Oh,  that  they  had  hearkened  unto  Me, 
I  should  soon  have  subdued  their  enemies." 

Nothing  that  I  have  yet  read  of  has  been  to  me  so  affecting,  so 
pathetic,  as  the  patience,  the  forbearance,  the  magnanimity,  and  the 
noble  generosity  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  the  present  war. 
But  I  think  it  was  a  thousand  pities  that,  when  Spain  oft'ered  to 
evacuate  a  certain  place — if  it  could  retain  side-arms — the  occasion 
was  not  eagerly  seized  and  embraced.  I  will  say  here  that  I  have 
never  been  an  admirer  of  Spain.  I  remember  its  Inquisition  and  its 
bull-baiting,  and  its  inconceivably  rotten  and  terrorising  Popery ;  but 
I  will  be  just,  and  acknowledge  that  in  this  ever-to-be-deplored  conflict 
the  Spaniards  have  shown  themselves  to  be  anything  but  cowards. 
Let  us  be  just  even  to  the  opposition.  They  have  fought  si:)lendidly, 
according  to  their  opportunities  and  resources.  They  have  justified 
their  title  to  a  high  military  place  in  Europe,  and  this  tribute  has  been 
so  ungrudgingly  conceded  by  the  Americans  that  I  am  thankful  that 
this  noble  trait  in  their  character  has  been  so  displayed. 

America  touched  the  highest  point  of  her  iiistory  when  she  was 
gentle  to  her  Spanish  opponents,  when  she  took  them  on  board  her 
own  ships  and  received  the  great  Spanish  admiral  as  being  every 
inch  a  seaman  and  every  inch  a  soldier.  I  do  not  believe  in  a  God 
who  classifies  nations  invidiously,  but  the  God  in  whom  I  do  believe 
classifies  nations  generously,  justly,  giving  to  each  nation  a  portion  in 
due  season  and  charging  each  nationality  with  its  own  special 
responsibility.  I  do  not  ask  you  to  take  up  any  party  cry,  but  T  ask 
you  to  adopt  the  cry  of  Christian  Protestantism  for  the  world,  the 
enemy  of  Rome  and  the  friend  of  man. 

Dr.  Parkek's  Welcome  to  the  Delegates. 

At  the  close  of  the  service  Dr.  Parker  stated  that  he  extended  "  a 
very  emphatic  and  cordial  welcome  to  the  City  Temple,"  to  all  the 
Convention  delegates,  and  especially  to  the  Americans.  He  spoke 
particularly  to  the  Americans,  because  while  delegates  from  other 
lands  were  not  less  welcome  he  had  personal  knowledgi^  of  the  United 
States,  and  had  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  its  people,  as  he  liad  crossed 
the  Atlantic  several  times,  and  preached  or  lectured  in  many  American 
towns  and  cities,  though  he  had  never  visited  any  of  the  colonies. 
"  You  are  right  welcome  here,"  he  said  to  the  Americans ;  "  you 
ouglit  to  feel  very  much  at  home  here,  for  in  this  place  some  of  the 
greatest  of  the  American  preachers  have  spoken.    Henry  Ward  Beecher 


Sunday  Scliool  Convention.  161 

(applause)  has  preached  hero,  and  such  men  as  Theodore  Cuylor. 
You  have  in  your  country  some  great  preachers,  men  who  can  preach 
with  a  solidity  and  weight  that  would  blow  up  the  British  Constitu- 
tion if  practised  hero.  lu  this  country  wo  think  twenty  minutes  is 
long  enough  for  a  sermon  if  it  has  only  one  head,  and  that  head  full 
of  intelligence  and  life.  If  an  American  preacher  goes  over  the 
twenty  minutes,  he  had  better  go  back  to  his  own  country.  The  day 
of  two  sermons,  and  long  sermons,  seems  to  have  passed,  but  it  may 
yet  return.  The  pulpit  is  at  present  under  eclipse,  but  the  eclipse 
will  not  continue.  I  say  to  you  who  are  preachers,  "  Preach  to  broken 
hearts,  to  shattered  ambitions,  to  the  disappointments,  sorrows,  ami 
sins  of  the  world  :  preach  to  its  mothers  and  nurses  and  little  children." 


162  World's  Third 


THIRD  DAY.— EIGHTH  SESSION. 
Thursday  Afternoon. 

The  President  took  the  chair  at  the  eighth  session,  which  was 
held  on  Thursday  afternoon  at  the  City  Temple. 

The  hymn,  "  0  for  a  heart  to  praise  my  God,"  having  been  sung, 
The  Rev.  J.  Tolefeee  Pakr  led  the  meeting  in  prayer. 

THE   SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

The  President  :  After  the  programme  was  printed  it  was  found 
that  Mr.  Marion  Laurence,  U.S.A.,  was  unable  to  come  to  England, 
but  we  have  secured  a  gentleman  well  adapted  to  deal  with  the 
subject  of  Grading  and  Management,  Mr.  P.  H.  Bristow,  who  has  a 
school  at  Washington  of  over  2,000  scholars  and  teachers. 

GRADING  AND  MANAGEMENT. 
By  Mr.  P.  H.  Bristow  (Washington,  U.S.A.). 

The  Sunday  school  needs  better  methods,  better  organisation, 
better  management.  The  time  will  come  when  the  organisation  will 
be  equal  to  that  of  the  day  school.  Such  organisation  will  include  in 
its  general  scope  a  well-defined  system  of  grading — not  by  classes, 
perhaps,  so  much  as  by  departments.  When  schools  are  thus  graded 
and  well  organised  by  departments  and  in  classes,  the  management 
becomes  comparatively  an  easy  matter.  It  is  the  legitimate  ambition 
of  every  superintendent  to  attain  the  greatest  possible  success  in  his 
work,  and  his  only  hope  lies  in  the  most  systematic  work  of  which  his 
conditions  and  surroundings  will  admit.  Any  superintendent  can 
better  his  surroundings  if  the  mind  is  in  liim  to  do  it. 

I  shall  speak  of  grading  the  Sunday  school  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
comparison  with  the  grading  in  our  public  schools.  I  have  little  use  for 
mere  theories  in  the  management  of  a  Sunday  school,  if  these  theories 
have  not  been  given  practical  tests  that  havt;  proven  reasonably  success- 
ful. The  greatest  opportunities  for  grading  and  the  best  urguuisatiou 
of  the  Sunday  scliool  may  not  lie  in  the  way  of  every  superintendent,  but 


Sunday  School  Convention.  163 

tliere  is  not  one  who  may  not  do  far  better  work.  But  let  me  say,  how- 
ever, it  means  the  best  effort  there  is  in  the  superintendent.  I  pity  the 
man  who  slaves  for  himself  six  daj's  in  the  week,  and  then  brings  to  the 
Lord  on  Sunday  a  poor,  weary,  worn-out  body  and  mind  too,  and  says 
it  is  the  best  he  can  do — he  knows  it  is  not.  I  have  a  school  which 
is  graded  ;  the  organisation  is  not  perfect,'and  never  will  be,  but,  so  far 
as  we  have  gone,  I  think  no  one  who  was  acquainted  with  the  work  will 
question  its  success.  It  is  much  easier  to  grade  and  manage  a  large 
school  than  a  smaller  one ;  but  grading  can  be  accomplished  in  the 
smallest  school.  I  know  of  such  schools  which  are  in  successful 
operation.  If  you  want  a  larger  school,  do  5'our  work,  the  very  best  you 
can,  in  the  small  one,  and,  if  other  conditions  are  favourable,  numbers 
will  come.  But  remember,  number  is  only  a  secondary  consideration. 
Tlie  very  best  work  put  fortli  in  the  direction  of  saving  children  and 
redeeming  men  and  women  is  your  duty.  If  you  are  faithful  over  a 
few  things,  you  will  be  given  rule  over  the  many. 

My  own  school  is  organised  into  six  departments.  Five  of  these 
constitute  the  main  school,  and  its  sessions  are  held  each  Sunday  morning 
— the  sixth  is  what  is  known  as  the  Home  department.  For  want  of  a 
better  name,  the  first  department,  in  an  upward  scale  by  ages,  is  the 
kindergarten.  Do  not  let  the  name  mislead  you.  The  methods  of  the 
d  ay  school  kindergarten  are  not  used  to  any  great  extent,  though  little 
motion  songs  are  easily.adjusted  to  the  Sunday  school  work,  and  sand- 
maps,  blocks,  pictures,  etc.,  are  readily  brought  into  profitable  use. 
The  ages  of  the  kindergarten  children  vary  from  two  to  five  yeai's. 
At  that  point  is  the  dividing  line  between  this  department  and 
the  primary ;  and,  as  five  years  is  the  legal  school  age,  the  primary 
takes  the  children  just  as  they  are  entering  the  day  school.  The 
kindergarten  is  taught  as  one  class.  The  teacher  has  an  assistant 
who  keeps  the  record  of  attendance,  another  plays  the  organ  and  leads 
the  singing,  and  yet  another  does  all  other  necessary  work  in  the 
room,  leaving  the  teacher  free  to  devote  her  entire  time  to  the  teaching 
of  the  lesson. 

As  I  have  already  stated,  the  next  or  primary  department  takes 
the  children  at  five  years  of  age,  just  as  they  are  entering  the 
public  schools.  It  also  includes  in  its  membership  the  children  of 
the  second  and  third  public  school  grades.  Here  is  also  one  teacher 
with  three  assistants.  While  the  age  limit  is  fixed  upon  as  the  basis 
of  the  promotion  of  children  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  primary 
department,  it  is  not  an  inflexible  rule,  and  there  can  be  no  inflexible 
rules  in  the  management  of  a  Sunday  school.  Supplemental  work  is 
done  even  among  the  youngest  scholars.  These  little  ones  learn  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  repeat  the  16th  verse  of  the  third  chapter  of  John,  and 
other  easy  texts,  and  are  made  somewhat  acquainted  with  the 
23rd  Psalm.  In  the  primary  department  the  supplemental  work  is 
greatly  enlarged.  The  children  here  have  the  training  of  the  day 
school,  are  accustomed  to  study,  to  memorising,  and  to  question  and 
answer.     They  are  taught  the  names  of  the  books  of  the  whole  Bible, 

M  2 


164  World's  Third 

memorise  many  verses  of  Scripture  anil  parts  of  chapters,  learn 
perfectly  such  Psalms  as  the  first  and  twenty-third,  and  begin  to  loam 
the  Ten  Commandments.  The  children  are  required  to  be  proficient 
in  this  work  before  advancement  to  the  next  department,  even  though 
entitled  to  promotion  because  of  age.  Proficiency  is  determined  by 
examinations.  The  next  department  is  the  intermediate,  and  includts 
in  its  membership  children  in  the  4th,  5th,  and  6th  grades  of  the 
public  schools.  The  ages  range  from  nine  to  twelve  years.  In  this 
department  there  is  a  division  into  classes,  each  with  a  teacher,  and 
averaging  in  number  of  scholars  from  eight  to  ten.  There  is  an 
associate  superintendent  in  charge  of  the  department,  with  three 
assistants.  The  associate  has  charge  of  all  exercises  in  the  opening 
of  the  school,  and  reviews  the  previous  lesson.  She  also  gives  the 
connecting  events.  Twenty  minutes  is  given  the  teachers  with  their 
classes,  and  they  are  expected  only  to  present  tlie  facts  of  the  lesson, 
as  to  time,  places,  and  persons.  Tiie  superintendent  then  makes  the 
application  of  the  lesson  and  gives  the  supplemental  instruction.  All 
the  work  of  the  two  lower  departments  is  reviewed,  the  divisions  of 
the  books  of  the  Bible,  into  the  law,  poetry,  prophecy,  the  gospel,  etc., 
is  taught,  and  the  Ten  Commandments  are  learned  perfectly. 

Next  above  the  intermediate  is  the  junior  department.  The 
superintendents  of  the  three  lower  departments  are  ladies.  The 
junior  superintendent  is  a  man.  Here  the  scholars  are  the  children 
from  the  7th  and  8th  public  school  grades  and  from  the  high  school. 
Tlie  ages  range  from  thirteen  to  eighteen  years.  This  department  is 
also  divided  into  classes,  and  is  graded  by  classes  as  far  as  is 
practicable.  The  sexes  are  kept  separate.  Here  the  teachers  are 
given  thirty-five  minutes  for  teaching  the  lesson,  and  are  expected  to 
make  its  apiilication,  not  only  to  the  class,  but  to  the  individuals.  The 
superintendent  takes  ten  minutes  for  supplemental  work.  In  addition 
to  much  of  what  has  been  taught  in  the  other  departments  he  takes 
up  Bible  history  and  chronology  and  the  study  of  some  of  the  great 
cliaracters  of  the  Bible.  In  this  junior  department  is  the  place  of 
reaping.  The  wisest,  but  most  urgent  eftbrt  is  here  made  to  get  the 
young  people  to  make  a  pub  He  profession  of  Jesus  as  a  personal 
Saviour.  And  just  here  comes  in  tlie  work  of  the  pastor.  The  best 
nianagem(^nt  includes  the  pastor's  unqualified  interest  in  the  school. 
His  visits  every  Sabbath  to  each  of  the  departments  bring  him  into  a 
relationship  and  acquaintance  with  the  scholars,  so  that  when  they 
reach  the  age  when  a  choice  becomes  a  matter  of  so  much  moment 
tliey  know  the  pastor  as  their  pastor,  as  their  friend,  and  as  their 
counsellor.  They  are  ready  to  confide  in  him  and  to  be  led  by  him 
up  to  the  feet  of  Christ.  And  what  next  ?  Far  too  often  the  answer 
to  that  question  is,  "Nothing."  The  door  from  this  department  in 
too  many  in.stances  opens  out  into  the  world.  The  lack  of  manage- 
ment just  at  this  point  allows  the  young  people  to  stop  out  into  a 
wide  world,  and  officers  and  teachers  of  Sunday  schools  do  not  even 
peer  out  into  the  darkness  to  see  where  they  have   gone,  nor  even 


Sunday  School  Convention.  165 

epuJ  a  call  after  them,  telling  tliem  to  come  back,  little  dreaming 
apparently  that  beyond  the  looking  and  the  calling  it  is  their  duty  to 
go  out  after  them.  The  great  majority  of  school  officers  accept  as 
final  t!ie  decision  of  the  young  man  or  woman  of  eighteen  who  says, 
''  I  am  too  old  to  attend  the  Sunday  school."  But  I  liear  you  asking, 
"  How  can  it  be  done  ?  "  The  answer  is,  "  Be  in  earnest  in  your 
work,  and  let  the  young  people  see  that  you  mean  what  you  say  when 
you  tell  you  are  interested  in  them  now  and  in  all  the  future."  I 
cannot,  and  I  think  no  man  living  can,  tell  you  hoio  to  do  your  work. 
No  one  but  yourself  knows  tlie  conditions,  and  so  cannot  take  all  the 
influences  into  account.  The  general  charge  would  be,  "  Clo  at  your 
work  in  earnest." 

In  the  school  I  have  been  telling  you  about  the  door  out  of  the 
junior  department  opens  into  the  adult  department,  and  the  way 
between  is  vestibuled.  Our  management  has  been  such  that  the 
Church  membership,  including  all  of  its  officers,  are  interested,  and 
actively  so,  in  the  work  of  tlie  Sunday  school.  Their  example  goes  a 
long  way  toward  making  the  young  people  feel  that  tlie  Sunday  school 
is  the  place  for  them,  and  not  altogetlier  for  the  children.  Between 
700  and  800  are  enrolled  in  our  adult  department.  One  of  the  most 
faithful  teachers  there  is  eighty-five  years  of  age.  Members  of 
Congress,  judges  of  our  federal  courts,  men  in  high  official  position, 
and  men  prominent  in  tlie  business  world  are  among  the  teachers. 
They  see  in  the  management  of  the  school  something  which  gives  them 
an  opportunity  to  work  in  a  good  cause.  Dignify  your  work  by  the 
highest  type  of  management,  and  men  of  high  degree,  Judges, 
Congressmen,  Members  of  Parliament,  and  Lords,  who  have  it  in  their 
hearts  to  work  will  put  fortli  their  hands  and  labour  in  the  common 
field. 

When  cares  of  any  kind  take  our  scholars  from  the  adult  depart- 
ment we  follow  them,  with  well-trained  teachers,  into  their  homes, 
and  organise  classes  there.  When  you  get  hold  of  a  child  the  best 
management  means  that  the  school  shall  never  let  go  that  hold. 

Each  one  of  the  departments  described  has  its  own  opening  and 
closing  exercises.  While  there  may  be  some  disadvantages  in  such 
arrangement,  the  advantages  overreach  them.  The  opening  exercises 
can  be  better  adapted  to  the  scholars,  and  the  interest  held  in  that 
way.  They  can  be  lengthened  in  one  and  shortened  in  another  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  teacher  as  to  lime  for  presenting  the 
lesson.  All  of  the  departments  are  brought  together  three  times  each 
year,  on  anniversary  occasions.  Only  two  weeks  ago  we  observed  one 
of  these  days.  It  was  the  time  for  children's  day.  But  as  I  believe 
in  the  teaching  of  patriotism,  with  all  else,  we  observed  the  day  as 
"  flag  day."  I  seized  the  opportunity  of  teaching,  by  illustration,  how 
much,  in  my  judgment,  the  world  is  looking  to  the  two  countries,  the 
one  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  the  other  under  the  Union  Jack, 
for  the  carrying  of  the  teaching  of  God's  word  into  all  its  parts.  Ss 
from  the  pulpit  platform  to  tlie  topmost  pipe  of  the  great  organ  in  a 


1G6  Worlds  Third 

church  but  little  smaller  than  this  one  in  which  we  meet,  I  festooned 
our  own  starry  banner.  But  in  the  very  centre,  against  the  balcony 
which  surrounds  the  organ,  I  crossed  two  beautiful  silk  banners,  the 
Union  Jack  aud  the  Stars  and  StriiJes.  But  over  them,  and  floating 
out  between  them,  fluttered  another  banner,  representing  more  than 
either  of  these — the  white  flag  of  the  gospel  of  peace  to  all  mankind. 
But  the  two  flags  of  colour  were  the  wings  which  shall  carry  the 
peace  banner  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  and  to  the  islands  of 
the  sea.  I  speak  of  this  because  it  is  all  a  part  of  the  management 
of  a  Sunday  school.  More  than  flfteen  hundred  men,  women,  and 
children  looked  on  that  scene  that  day  and  sang  the  mingled  songs 
of  patriotism  and  Christianity  and  good  fellowship  and  national 
fraternity,  and  do  you  think  they  will  ever  forget  ?  They  were 
interested  in  it  all.  I  have  been  giving  you  illustrations  of  manage- 
ment, rather  than  telling  you  hoiv  to  manage,  but  I  trust  it  will  serve 
its  purpose  better  than  any  attempt  I  might  make  to  tell  you  how  to 
do  your  work.  The  average  Sunday  school  cannot  be  divided  just  as 
suggested,  but  may  not  our  success  be  a  suggestion,  and  possibly  an 
inspiration,  for  you  to  undertake  greater  things  than  j^ou  are  now 
doing  ?  If  you  accept  as  true  all  that  was  said  here  on  Tuesday 
morning  about  the  hope  of  the  nations  aud  of  the  world  being  in  the 
Sunday  schools,  is  anything  too  good  for  them?  Churches  do  not 
give  attention  enough  to  the  schools.  Pastors  do  not  seem  to  realise, 
as  a  rule,  that  they  owe  anything  to  their  schools.  If,  as  has  been 
said  here,  five-sixths  of  the  membership  of  our  Oliurches  come  into 
the  doors  on  the  Sunday  school  side,  why,  in  the  name  of  our  Master, 
do  not  the  Churches  take  better  care  of  their  schools?  In  the 
management  of  any  well-regulated  school  the  pastor  is  the  head — the 
captain ;  the  superintendent  is  the  executive  oflicer.  luto  every 
session  of  the  school  the  pastor  should  come,  not  to  do  work,  if  it  can 
De  avoided,  but  by  his  presence  to  show  his  interest.  I  do  not  forget 
that  I  may  be  talking  to  some  pastors  who  have  to  be  their  own 
superintendents,  and  sometimes  their  own  secretaries  and  leaders  of 
the  singing. 

The  first  thing  in  the  management  of  a  Sunday  school  is  for  a 
superintendent  to  learn  to  manage  himself  The  captain  without 
self-discipline  sees  that  lack  of  discipline  among  his  men  at  critical 
moments  leads  to  awful  disaster  and  defeat.  Next  to  managing 
himself,  the  superintendent  must  manage  his  oificers.  They  must 
believe  in  him  as  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  They  must  be 
subordinate.  The  superintendent  may,  and  ought  to,  accept  sugges- 
tions ;  but,  after  all,  he  is  held  responsible,  and  if  his  judgment 
dictates  a  course  at  variance  with  suggestions  he  must  follow  liis  own 
course.  The  superintendent  must  manage  his  teachers.  In  the 
teachers  lies  the  force,  after  all,  that  makes  or  luimakes  the  success  of 
n  school.  If  the  superintendent  can  awaken  enthusiasm  in  them  for 
their  work,  can  induce  them  to  devote  more  time  to  study  and  more 
time  to  visiting  among  the  scholars,  ho  is  managing  them  well.     1 1 


Sunday  School  Convention.  167 

goes  almost  without  the  saying  that  every  well-managed  school  has  a 
teachers'  meeting  for  preparation  of  the  lesson.  Better  trained 
teachers  are  needed  for  the  Sunday  school,  as  well  as  consecrated  and 
enthusiastic  ones.     Misdirected  enthusiasm  may  be  fatal. 

Finally,  I  believe  that  grading  in  our  Sunday  schools  is  not  a  theory, 
but  a  practical  necessity,  and  that  the  well-mai:aged  school  is  one 
where  the  pastor  is  the  head ;  the  superintendent  is  a  well-poised, 
discreet,  systematic  worker,  and  good  organiser;  where  the  other 
officers  are  willing  suhordinates ;  where  the  teachers  are  carefidly 
selected  men  and  women,  consecrated  and  enthusiastic ;  the  scholars 
are  enthusiastic,  because  there  is  something  in  it ;  and  where,  over 
and  above  everything  else,  every  energy  of  every  worker  is  put  forth 
intelligently  for  the  salvation  of  all  the  people. 

The  President  :  You  will  notice  in  the  programme  that  the  topic 
next  to  be  considered  is  "Loyal  Sunday  School  Army,"  on  which 
Mr.  "W.  B.  Jacobs,  U.S.A.,  was  to  read  a  paper.  Mr.  Jacobs  wrote  me 
to  the  effect  that  his  brother's  health  would  not  permit  of  his  taking 
part  in  the  meeting.  I  have  seen  Mr.  W.  B.  Jacobs,  and  he  says 
he  is  really  unfit  to  stand  before  our  friends,  but  he  promised,  if 
well  enough,  to  give  us  a  paper  for  the  Convention  Eeport.  But 
we  have  here  a  gentleman  who  will  give  us  a  valuable  paper  upon 
the  superintendent's  work — Mr.  Pepper. 

[We  regi-et  that  the  indisposition  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Jacobs  prevented 
him  from  supplying  his  paper  for  this  report. — Editok.] 


THE  SUPERINTENDENT. 
By  Mr.  J.  K.  Pepper  {Memplm,  Tennessee,  U.S.A.). 

I  have  thought  sometimes,  in  discussing  the  oft-reviewed  super- 
intendent, that  the  functions  of  his  office  have  been  so  magnified,  and 
the  qualifications  for  the  same  so  greatly  multiplied,  that  it  has  dis- 
couraged rather  than  cheered  the  large  army  of  plain,  modest,  yet 
earnest  average  superintendents  over  the  land.  My  purpose,  there- 
fore, shall  be  to  put  the  matter  on  at  least  an  attainable  plane,  and  to 
help,  if  possible,  the  honest  toiler  who  seeks,  amid  limited  oppor- 
tunities, to  do  faithfully  the  work  committed  to  his  hands.  Hence  I 
desire  to  group  what  I  shall  say  under  three  exceedingly  simple 
heads,  viz.,  what  the  superintendent  should  have,  be,  do. 

WJiat  the  Superintendent  should  have. — 1st.  He  should  have  a 
clear,  well-defined  conviction  touching  the  office  and  its  possibilities, 
what  he  has  come  to  this  kingdom  for.  A  vital  personal  relation  to 
Jesus  Christ.  Otherwise  he  will  not  be  able  to  recognise  the  responsi- 
bility attaching  to  the  ofiice  nor  the  fruitful  opportunities  afforded 
thereby.  The  greatest  work  possible  to  the  office  is  that  of  soul- 
winning,  however  important  other  collateral  outreachings  may  bo. 
Hence  the  superintendent  who  fails  to  grasp  this  chief  purpose  has 
not  yet  caught  a  view  of  the  fundamental  work  given  him  to  do. 


168  World's  Third 

2nd.  He  should  have  a  clean  character,  and  keep  it  clean.  Ko  one 
■with  a  besmirched  name  should  be  placed  as  a  leader  of  the  young, 
no  matter  what  position  he  may  occupy  in  the  community  or 
Church. 

3rd.  He  should  have  a  clean  mouth.  A  man  given  to  vulgar 
stories  and  statements  of  doubtful  trutlifuluess  should  never  be  set  as 
an  example  for  immature  minds. 

4tb.  He  should  have  life  and  business-like  vigour  in  conducting 
the  sessions  and  other  work  of  the  school.  A  dummy  or  automaton 
as  leader  will  make  such  of  the  scholars.  They  will  invariably 
take  their  tune  from  him.  He  must  put  snap  and  vim  into  step  and 
voice,  just  as  is  done  in  this  world's  work,  only  the  more  so  as  the 
motive  is  correspondingly  higher. 

The  Superintendent  should  be— An  organiser  of  his  forces.  In 
this  department  nothing  was  so  much  needed  as  generalship.  ]\Iany 
of  our  Churches  were  accomplisliing  little,  and  tliousandsof  individual 
Christians  were  dying  sph'itually  for  the  sheer  lack  of  something  to 
do.  To  put  all  to  work,  wise  and  persistent  planning  was  neces.sary 
If  need  be,  he  must  invent,  or  in  some  way  open,  now  channels  for 
activity,  whereby  persons  in  the  membership  of  the  Chiirch  or  out  of 
it,  who  had  never  before  done  anything,  would  become  active  partici- 
pants in  the  work  to  which  they  were  assigned.  A  vigorous  scliool 
should  contain  departments  enough  to  give  every  person  who  comes 
within  its  pale  something  to  do.  The  primary  intermediate  junior, 
senior,  home  department,  teacher's  meeting,  teacher's  prayer  meeting, 
social  work,  visitors  for  strangers,  the  sick,  absent  scliolars,  &c.,  &c., 
all  of  which  require  a  large  aggregate  number  of  workers,  corres- 
ponding of  course  to  the  size  of  the  church  and  community. 

From  all  of  which  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  a  vast  amount  of  work 
could  be  done  if  properly  organised  and  distributed  among  a  large 
number  instead  of  a  few  who  usually  bear  the  burden  of  work  in  all 
departments.     The  superintendent  must  do  this  planning. 

The  Superintendent  shoidd  be  a  student  of  the  best  literature 
on  his  office  work. — There  is  not  much  hope  of  a  superintendent  in 
these  latter  daj's  of  best  things  if  he  is  content  to  know  nothing  of 
what  the  expert  workers  of  the  world  are  doing.  He  need  not  buy 
everything  written  by  any  means,  but  he  should  keep  abreast  by 
reading  regularly  at  least  one  of  the  best  periodicals  on  world-wide 
Sunday  school  work.  He  need  not  attempt  every  new  thing  he  finds, 
but  in  the  finding  he  will  probably  evolve  a  new  way  for  himself. 

He  shoidd  be  a  Student  of  Scltool  Methods. — The  institution  over 
which  he  presides  certainly  should  be  a  school  of  the  best  type  with 
the  triple  thought  constantly  in  mind  tliat  it  must  be  made  inter- 
esting, instructive,  and  devotional.  The  first  involves  the  science  of 
variety,  the  second  real  teaching,  the  third,  most  important  of  all,  the 
spirit  of  true  reverence  and  spiritual  worship.  "Without  coupling 
either  of  these  three  foundation  stones  of  the  structure  with  anything 
technical,  it  was  absolutely  essential  that  a  perfectly  plain  under- 


Sunday  School  Convention.  169 

standing  of  them  should  be  liad  by  the  superintendent  who  earnestly 
and  honestly  desired  to  enrich  his  oflice  and  reach  the  finest  results. 

The  roads  leading  from  this  trinity  crossing  ran  in  very  many 
directions  and  furnished  a  splendid  opportunity  for  the  disposition  of 
every  worker  that  could  bo  won  to  do  anything  for  his  Lord.  No 
matter  how  small  the  task,  almost  invariably  a  friend  is  gained  for  the 
school  when  some  investment  of  work  was  secured.  Deacon  Jones 
testified  that  he  had  always  noticed  that  it  was  a  good  meeting  when 
he  took  part — a  truly  philosophical  statement.  Brother  Jenkins,  the 
chronic  grumbler,  on  returning  from  a  meeting,  announced  to  his  wife 
that  tliey  had  not  had  such  a  meeting  for  years  and  that  he  had 
actually  spoken  twice.     These  two  had  invested. 

The  Superintendent  should  DO. — No  other  individual  connected 
with  a  church  should  liold  so  close  a  relation  to  the  pastor  and  people 
as  the  truly  consecrated  superintendent.  Hence  he  should  do  much 
pastoral  work  among  his  school  membership  either  personally  or  under 
his  immediate  direction  with  the  grasp  of  his  own  hand  and  the  throb 
of  his  own  heart  in  it.  Many  of  the  richest  lessons  he  can  teach  will 
not  be  heard  from  the  platform  nor  even  from  the  current  text  of  the 
VFeek,  but  from  the  warm  page  of  his  own  experience  as  he  looked  into 
the  eye  of  the  sick,  the  destitute,  the  erring,  and  the  straying.  He 
should  be  a  faithful  under-shepherd  of  his  flock. 

Se  should  not  do  that  which  it  was  the  business  of  some  one  else 
to  do,  or  that  which  he  could  get  some  one  else  to  do  properly.  He 
should  bear  the  same  relation  to  his  corps  of  workers  that  a  first-class 
teacher  did  towards  his  pupils,  he  is  to  be  a  developer  of  the  workers, 
aifd  a  judicious  division  of  labour  should  be  laid  upon  them  constantly 
in  order  that  a  competent  band  may  be  continuously  in  training,  and 
that  the  work  may  never  depend  upon  any  one  individual,  and  in  the 
event  of  that  individual's  removal  for  any  cause  great  harm  accrue  to 
the  work.  The  wise  superintendent  will  do  some  of  his  most  far- 
reaching  work  just  here. 

He  should  not  try  to  DO  a  thing  just  like  somebody  else  simply 
for  the  sake  of  newness  or  novelty. — Saul's  armour  did  not  fit  David, 
and  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  exact  plan  of  some  one  else  will  not 
meet  your  case.  It  is  an  idea  rather  than  a  special  method  that  is 
most  needed.  Ideals  and  great  purposes  give  birth  to  methods,  and 
it  will  ever  be  bo.  The  law  of  adaptation  rather  than  of  adoption 
should  obtain.  Use  what  you  can  of  the  thought  of  others,  making 
such  changes  as  your  own  special  needs  warrant. 

I  did  not  observe  after  I  had  completed  my  analysis  or  outline  of 
this  discussion  that  by  reading  it  backwards  it  compresses  the  whole 
duty  and  opportunity  of  the  superintendent  into  the  very  significant 
exhortation  do — behave.  After  all  that  briefly  covers  the  entire 
matter.  I  know  of  nothing  that  a  superintendent  needs  more  than  to 
behave  well,  as  a  man,  as  a  servant  of  God,  to  whom  has  been  com- 
mitted a  great  trust,  as  the  custodian  of  immortal  souls.  To  so 
behave  with  all  fidelity,  that  at  the  end  of  the  journey  the  Lord  will 


170  World's  Third 

say,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,"  which  should  be  his 
highest  ambition. 

The  President  :  I  am  sure,  friends,  you  will  agree  with  me  that 
that  jjaper  is  a  most  splendid  gathering  up  of  facts  and  suggestions  in 
ton  minutes.  I  kept  my  note-book  going  the  whole  time ;  and,  in  addi- 
tion to  what  has  been  so  admirably  delivered,  I  may  say  I  hold  in  my 
hand  a  book  known  to  some  of  our  friends,  but  not  to  all.  It  is  the 
"  Sunday  School  Red-book."  You  will  find  it  is  a  manual  of  suggestions 
and  advice  for  superintendents.  There  is  a  good  deal  in  it,  and  it  is 
by  our  friend,  Mr.  Belsey,  ex-President  of  the  AVorld's  Convention. 

I  think  you  will  all  wish  to  take  away  with  you  further  suggestions 
as  to  how  the  work  should  be  carried  on.  Now,  we  have  to  take  the 
Home  Department  itself,  and  a  paper  is  to  be  read  upon  the  subject  by 
Dr.  Hazard.  We  are  very  sorry  that  the  secretary  of  this  movement, 
Dr.  Duncan,  is  unable  to  be  with  us,  but  I  am  sure  that  Dr.  Hazard  will 
treat  the  subject  well.  I  have  pleasure  in  introducing  Dr.  Hazard, 
of  the  United  States. 

The  hymn,  "  Jesus  calls  us  o'er  the  tumult,"  was  sung. 


THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  HOME  DEPARTMENT. 
By  M.  C.  Hazard,  Ph.D.  (US. A.). 

In  the  paper  by  Dr.  Duncan,  which  will  be  printed  in  our  Convention 
Report,  the  author  of  tlie  Home  Department  has  told  the  story  of  its 
origin  and  of  its  achievements.  If  not  acquainted  with  it  before,  from 
that  paper  yuu  will  learn  what  the  purjiose  and  mission  of  the  Home 
Department  are.  In  thus  explaining  its  object,  and  by  numerous 
illustrations  showing  its  efl'ectiveness  in  accomplishing  that  object. 

My  task  is  to  unfold  the  operations  of  the  Home  Department,  and 
to  indicate  the  extent  of  its  application.  I  propose  to  speak  of  two 
things.     1.  Its  methods.     2.  Its  results. 

1.  Its  Methods. — At  the  outset,  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  their 
great  simplicity.  The  more  complex  a  machine  is  the  fewer  there  are 
who  can  manage  it.  An  engine  of  many  parts  demands  the  services 
of  a  trained  engineer,  while  anyone  can  wield  a  pickaxe.  Just  in 
proportion  as  any  organisation  is  complicated,  and  consequently 
demands  more  executive  ability,  the  less  likely  it  is  to  come  into 
general  adoption.  Any  movement  in  order  to  become  general  must 
commend  itself  as  being  simple  as  well  as  effective.  When  it  is 
shown  to  them  people  must  say,  "  Why,  we  can  do  that ! "  and  forth- 
with be  eager  to  try  it.  It  must  not  only  be  simple  but  easy  to  work. 
Its  machinery  must  not  be  so  difficult  to  move  that  all  the  energy  is 
absorbed  in  simply  making  the  wheels  go  round.  Some  engines,  you 
know,  have  been  constructed  so  that  they  would  turn  tlie  machinery, 
but  could  not  generate  force  enough  to  set  the  machinery  ti)  doing 
work. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  171 

And  that  reminds  me  to  say  that  there  are  many  churches  who 
have  too  much  machinery.  Tliey  are  so  overloaded  with  organisations 
of  different  kinds  that  they  do  not  have  enough  spiritual  power  to 
keep  them  all  going.  They  are  in  the  condition  of  a  small  steam 
tughoat  on  one  of  the  Western  waters  of  the  United  States,  which  liad 
a  large  whistle  and  small  steam-making  power.  It  could  not  furnish 
steam  enough  to  turn  its  propeller  and  blow  the  whistle  at  tlie  same 
time ;  so  that  whenever  the  whistle  sounded  the  boat  had  to  stop. 
No  chiirch  should  ever  be  like  that.  Better  get  rid  of  some  of  its 
organisations.  An  organisation  never  should  be  adopted  for  its  own 
sake  merely.  If  it  absorbs  more  energy  than  is  warranted  by  the  good 
that  it  accomplishes,  it  should  be  dropped.  The  Home  Department 
commends  itself  as  being  simple,  easy  to  work,  and  very  productive  in 
its  results.    Let  us  look  at  its 

Plan  of  Operation. 

In  the  Home  Department  everything  centres  round  the  pledge.  It 
asks  of  those  who  are  not  connected  with  the  Sunday  school,  either 
because  they  cannot  go,  or  do  not  wish  to  go,  a  pledge,  written  or 
verbal,  that  they  will  study  the  lesson  at  home  for  at  least  a  half  hour 
each  week  and  keep  a  record  of  their  work.  It  is  for  the  securing  of 
this  pledge  that  the  Home  Department  is  formed.  Now  it  is  a 
very  simple  thing  to  solicit  people  to  make  such  a  pledge  as  that. 
It  does  not  require  a  college  education  to  enable  one  to  do  it.  There 
are  but  few  persons  in  any  church  who  would  regard  the  doing  of  that 
as  beyond  their  power.  Many  who  would  unhesitatingly  say  that 
they  are  not  qualified  to  teach  in  the  Sunday  school  would  be  com- 
pelled to  admit  that  the  presentation  of  such  a  request  is  not  beyond 
their  ability.  Hence  in  the  Home  Department  you  have  an  organisa- 
tion in  which  can  be  utilised  a  large  portion  of  that  element  in  the 
church  which  is  now  an  incubus  through  inactivity.  Through  the 
Home  Department,  many  who  heretofore  have  been  mere  spectators 
have  become  active  workers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard.  Tliat  fact  alone 
would  justify  its  existence.  Many  churches  are  dying  from  inanition. 
Churches  must  be  productive  in  order  to  have  vigorous  life.  Any- 
thing should  be  welcomed  which  will  cause  them  to  be  productive. 

I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  great  desirability  of  inducing  people  to 
study  the  Bible  a  half  hour  each  week.  In  many  families  even  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures  is  lapsing.  The  Bible  is  no  longer  the  one 
book.  Now  there  are  so  many  books  and  so  many  publications  of  all 
kinds ;  each  family  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  whole  world 
through  the  daily  papers ;  matters  vitally  affecting  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  jjeople  and  of  other  peoples  are  daily  laid  before  the  reading 
public,  so  that  there  is  not  in  these  days  as  much  time  to  devote  to 
the  leisurely  perusal  of  God's  Word  as  there  used  to  be.  Something 
must  be  done  to  restore  the  Scriptures  to  their  regal  place  in  the 
household.     The  only  way  to  do  that  seems  to  be  through  some 


172  World's  Third 

concerted  movement  for  Bible  study,  such  as  the  Home  Department 
presents.  Once  tlius  introduced  into  the  home  it  is  believed  that  in 
multitudes  of  cases  it  will  make  its  own  way  and  hold  its  place.  For 
the  AVord  of  God  is  not  likely  to  return  unto  Ilim  void,  but  will  accom- 
plish that  which  God  pleases,  and  will  prosper  in  the  thing  whereunto 
lie  has  sent  it. 

But  the  pledge  to  study  the  Bible  for  a  half  hour  each  week  seems 
a  very  little  thing,  almost  too  little,  to  ask.  Still  it  is  better  to  ask 
too  little  than  to  ask  too  much.  Thousands  will  readily  pledge 
themselves  to  study  for  a  half  hour  each  week  who  would  peremptorily 
refuse  if  more  were  demanded.  A  half  hour  seemed  such  an  incon- 
siderable portion  of  time  to  give  to  a  matter  so  confessedly  important, 
that  for  very  shame  at  declining  thousands  upon  thousands  will  agree 
to  make  the  pledge.  What,  out  of  a  whole  week,  not  give  a  single 
half  hour  to  the  study  of  God's  Word  I  In  a  week  there  arc  336 
half  hours,  and  not  spare  one  of  them  to  find  out  what  is  the  message 
of  God  to  the  soul  1  You  see  how  difiScult  it  can  be  made  to  avoid 
making  the  pledge  of  study.  And  then  experience  has  clearly  proven 
that  a  pledge  to  devote  a  half  hour  each  week  in  almost  every  case 
means  much  more.  .  It  is  almost  impossiblo  to  master  the  lesson  in 
a  half  hour.  Questions  are  started  during  that  half  hour  which  will 
rake  other  half  hours  to  settle,  and  before  he  is  aware  of  it  the  Home 
Department  student  is  eagerly  investigating.  He  gets  to  pondering 
over  some  of  the  things  that  have  come  up  in  his  study,  and  he  would 
like  to  know  what  a  teacher  would  say  about  them  in  the  Sunday 
school.  And  so  some  day  he  drops  into  a  Bible  class,  taking  a  back 
seat,  but  keeping  his  ears  ojien.  Seeing  how  informal  is  the  conduct 
of  the  class,  and  how  every  one  is  free  to  ask  questions,  he  propounds 
a  question  himself,  one  which  has  been  troubling  him.  It  is  answered 
promptly  and  to  his  satisfaction,  and  he  says  to  himself,  "  Why,  this 
is  the  place  for  me  to  be,"  and  he  becomes  a  member  of  that  Bible 
class,  becoming  more  and  more  interested  in  Bible  study.  In  the 
course  of  time  that  superintendent  is  likely  to  call  upon  him  to  take  a 
class  himself.  That  is  no  fancy  picture  ;  it  has  been  realised  in 
numberless  instances  in  the  history  of  the  Home  Department.  Thus 
the  Home  Department  is  not  only  a  blessing  for  the  shut-ins,  l?ho 
cannot  get  away  from  the  home,  but  also  leads  many  into  the  Sunday 
school  who  are  able  to  get  there.  Many  a  Home  Department  class 
made  up  of  such  has  been  obliterated  through  the  joining  of  the 
school  by  its  members. 

How  and  by  whom  shall  that  pledge  to  study  be  obtained  ?  The 
answer  to  that  will  disclose  the  whole  matter  of  organisation,  and  that 
likewise  is  a  very  simple  thing.  A  man  or  woman,  and  in  almost  all 
oases  a  woman,  is  given  a  district  to  visit  to  secure  pledges.  Tiiat 
person  is  called  a  visitor.  There  are  as  many  visitors  as  there  are 
districts  to  be  visited.  Care  should  be  taken  not  to  make  the  task  of 
the  visitor  too  gi-eat.  Twelve  or  fifteen  homes  well  looked  after  are 
better  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  hurriedly  called  upon.     The  object 


Sunday  School  Convention,  173 

of  the  visitor  should  be  to  get  thoroughly  acquainted  with  and  to 
establish  familiur  aud  fiieudly  relations  with  all  the  people  in  her 
district,  confining  herself,  of  course,  to  those  of  her  own  denomina- 
tion, aud  to  those  of  no  denomination.  Those  whom  she  secures  as 
students  are  her  class,  though  she  does  not  assume  to  teach  any  one  of 
them.  It  is  her  duty,  first  to  secure  the  pledge  of  study,  then  to 
supply  the  same  lesson  helps  which  are  studied  in  the  school ;  next 
to  call  at  the  end  of  tlic  quarter  to  give  out  new  help  and  to  receive 
the  report  of  study  and  whatever  offerings  each  student  has  felt 
inclined  to  make  towards  those  causes  to  which  the  school  contributes. 
Her  class,  with  all  the  other  similar  home  classes,  make  up  the  Home 
Department  of  the  Sunday  school,  which,  of  course,  id  under  the 
supervision  of  a  superintendent,  the  same  as  the  senior,  intermediate, 
or  primary  departments  of  the  Sunday  school.  The  visitors  rank  along 
with  the  teachers,  and  the  home  class  students  are  treated  in  every 
respect  as  the  other  members  of  the  school.  Of  course,  to  carry  all 
this  out,  there  are  pledge  cards,  report  cards,  circulars  for  distribution, 
explaining  the  scheme  and  various  helpful  devices,  but  you  see  how 
exceedingly  simple  the  whole  scheme  is.  It  consists  simply  of  a 
pledge,  oral  or  jirinted,  a  corps  of  visitors  to  secure  the  pledge  and  to 
aid  in  carrying  it  out,  and  a  superintendent  to  oversee  the  whole 
matter  that  it  does  not  fail  in  any  particular.    That  is  all  there  is  of  it. 

Next,  the  Home  Department  is  inexpensive.  It  does  not  call  for  a 
great  outlay  of  money.  There  are  no  salaries  to  pay.  The  workers 
give  their  services  for  the  sake  of  the  Master.  The  only  expense 
consists  in  furnishing  tlie  Home  Department  students  with  the 
lesson  helps  which  are  given  to  the  school  when  they  are  unable  to 
pay  for  them.  In  most  of  the  cases  the  Home  Department  students 
prefer  to  pay  for  them,  so  that  the  school  treasury  is  out  but  little. 
Now  let  lis  look  at : — 

II.  Its  Kesults. — After  what  has  thus  far  been  said,  it  is  evident 
that  the  Home  Department  is  a  movement  for : — 

1.  Bible  Study  Extension. — That  is  the  feature  which  commends  it  at 
sight.  It  enlarges  the  Sunday  school  to  the  size  of  the  parish.  It 
widens  out  the  walls  in  which  it  is  held,  so  that  it  may  include  all  who 
are  willing  to  study  the  Word  of  God.  It  introduces  that  study 
where  it  will  have  the  most  vital  effect — into  the  family.  It  enlists 
the  individual,  and  enrols  him  along  with  the  millions  of  others  who 
are  engaged  in  searching  the  Scriptures.  It  brings  parents  and 
children  into  closer  touch  and  sympathy  by  getting  them  to  study  the 
same  lesson.  Said  one  man,  "  If  you  wish  to  train  up  a  boy  in  the 
way  he  should  go,  first  go  that  way  two  or  three  times  yourself." 
There  is  in  it  a  possibility  of  doubling  and  even  quadrupling  the 
membership  of  the  Sunday  school. 

2.  Church  Extension. — It  sometimes  happens  that  one  plans  better 
than  he  is  aware  of  doing.  George  Stephenson  had  no  comprehension 
of  what  he  was  doing  for  facilitating  travel  when  he  was  working 
over  his  locomotive.     Morse  was  equally  ignoitint  of  the  applications 


174  World's  Third 

that  would  be  made  of  the  telegrajjU  when  he  made  communication 
by  electricity  a  possibility.  So  was  it  with  the  originator  of  the 
Home  Department  of  the  Sunday  scliool.  I  feel  quite  sure  that  he 
did  not  at  first  grasp  its  capabilities.  His  thought  was  then  only  for 
the  Sunday  school,  but  the  Home  Department  is  proving  itself  as 
great,  or  a  greater,  factor  for  good  to  the  Cliurch.  We  are  con- 
tinually asking  the  question,  "  How  shall  we  reach  the  masses  with 
the  Gospel  ?  "  This,  in  a  measure,  at  least  answers  tliat  question. 
We  have  tried  reaching  tlem  by  occasional,  spasmodic  canvassing. 
It  is  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  we  have  in  this  done  more  good  or 
harm  ?  People  visited  in  this  way  get  tlie  impression  that  they  arc 
looked  upon  as  heathen,  and  resent  the  imputation.  In  some  cases 
the  doors  are  vigorously  shut  in  the  faces  of  the  canvassers.  Now  the 
Home  Department  does  not  arouse  any  such  antagonism.  To  be 
invited  to  join  others  in  Bible  study  conveys  no  suggestion  calculated 
to  stir-  up  resentment.  Home  Department  visitors,  in  the  main,  are 
made  welcome.  And  then  they  regularly  canvass  the  whole  parish 
every  three  months,  year  after  year.  There  is  no  end  to  tiieir  labours. 
Who  cannot  .see  what  an  advantage  this  may  be  to  the  Ciinrcli  ?  For 
one  duty  of  the  visitors  is  to  give  a  cordial  invitation  to  all  who  can 
do  so  to  attend  the  services  of  the  church.  When  new  families  come 
into  her  district,  who.se  church  home  naturally  would  be  in  her 
church,  tlie  visitor  should  urge  them  to  present  their  letters  or  to 
join.  When  families  are  about  to  move,  she  will  suggest  that  letters 
be  taken  to  the  churcli  where  they  are  going.  Wlien  she  discovers 
those  who  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of  attending  any  church,  she 
will  use  all  her  tact  in  inducing  them  to  come  regularly  to  hear  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel.  So  the  visitors  become  an  efifective,  ever- 
working  recruiting  force  for  the  Churcli. 

3.  Aiding  the  Pastor. — Some  one  felicitously  has  called  the  Home 
Department  a  Pastor's  Aid  Society.  It  is  so  because  the  visitors  are 
on  the  look-out  for  information  wiiich  will  be  serviceable  to  him.  In 
order  to  accomplish  the  most  for  his  parish  the  pastor  should  visit  it. 
A  visiting  pastor,  if  he  is  of  the  right  sort,  makes  a  church- 
attending  congregation.  But  how  shall  ho  \'isit  to  the  best  advan- 
tage ?  The  making  of  perfunctory  calls  will  win  no  one.  If  he  is  the 
scholar  which  he  ought  to  be,  in  order  to  feed  tlie  people  who  come  to 
hear  him  preach,  he  cannot  spend  very  much  time  in  running  around 
his  parish.  When  he  does  go  it  should  count  for  something.  He 
should  know  who  ought  to  be  visited.  Now,  the  Home  Department 
visitors  can  furnish  him  just  the  information  which  he  needs.  They 
can  reiJort  to  him  any  who  are  sick,  who  have  a  grievance,  real  or 
fancied,  who  are  in  affliction,  who  are  suffering  from  poverty,  or  who 
desire  to  be  talked  with  on  tlie  subject  of  their  salvation.  Thus  the 
visitors  can  save  the  pastor  those  often  fruitless  tours  of  exploration. 
From  the  notes  which  they  furnish  liim  he  can  go  directly  to  liioso 
places  where  lie  is  most  needed.  Not  a  pastor  would  be  witliout  the 
Home  Department  if  he  knew  of  how  much  service  it  could  be  to  him. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  175 

The  Home  Department  therefore  commends  itself — first,  because  it 
extends  the  study  of  the  Bible  into  the  home  and  throughout  the 
parish ;  second,  because  it  effectively  and  continuously  aids  to  build 
up  the  Church ;  and  third,  because  it  is  a  constant  and  exceedingly 
useful  ally  of  the  pastor.  Any  Sunday  school  or  church  which  does 
not  adopt  it  fails  to  make  use  of  that  which  would  be  greatly  for  its 
benefit. 

[Dr.  Hazard  referred  to  a  paper  by  Dr.  Duncan,  which  would  bo 
included  in  the  Report,  but,  up  to  the  time  of  going  to  press,  this 
paper  had  not  come  to  hand. — Editor.] 

The  President  :  It  took  two  Conventions  to  get  the  Christian 
Endeavour  movement  firmly  planted.  It  will  take  two  Conventions  to 
get  the  Home  Department  established,  or  rather  established  among 
the  people  of  Great  Britain.  I  hope  that  after  this  Convention  people 
will  see  that  it  is  so  good  a  movement  that  they  will  take  it  up  and 
try  it  in  their  different  localities, 


Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  on  the  Home  Depabtment. 

Mr.  Belsey  (London):  Mr.  Chairman,  dear  friends, — The  only 
reason  why  I  follow  Df.' Hazard  is  that  it  has  been  my  privilege  to 
launch  the  Home  Department  in  connection  with  my  own  Sunday 
school  at  Rochester. 

I  want  to  show  you  how  we  went  to  work  in  our  school,  in  the  hope 
that  it  may  be  found  useful  to  delegates  in  England.  The  aim  of  the 
Home  Department  was  to  get  those  who  neglected  the  Bible  and  God's 
house  to  give  a  promise  that  once  a  week  on  the  Lord's  day  they  would 
read  the  same  portion  we  are  reading,  and  would  give  half  an  hour  to  its 
thoughtful  study.  We  felt  that  beyond  that  it  would  give  us  the 
opportunity  of  saying :  "  Now  you  belong  to  us.  "We  have  you 
enrolled.  You  are  part  of  our  organisation.  We  shall  be  pleased  to 
see  you  on  Sunday,  and  seats  and  hymn-books  will  be  waiting  for 
every  member  of  the  Home  Department  on  Sunday."  We  felt  we  could 
also  say  :  "  Look  here  !  You  are  associated  with  us.  Our  school 
library  is  at  your  service.  We  shall  be  delighted  to  see  you  on  our 
Anniversary  Day.  There  will  be  a  large  reserve  of  seats,  specially 
labelled,  'Home  Department,'  for  you,  and  we  shall  be  delighted  to 
see  you  occupying  them  on  Anniversary  Day.  We  shall  welcome  you 
on  the  occasion  of  our  Sunday  school  treats  and  picnics.  We  look 
upon  you  as  belonging  to  us." 

So  we  went  to  work  and  got  a  number  of  friends — some  of  whom  had 
been  asking  for  something  to  do,  ladies  who  could  not  teach  because 
it  made  their  heads  ache,  and  so  on— to  help  us.  We  said :  "  We 
shall  be  delighted  to  find  you  something.  Here  it  is,  come  along." 
So  we  got  out  a  list  of  all  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  our  scholars 


17G  World's  Third 

in  different  parts.  "We  have  700  children,  and  we  prepared  the  list 
to  start  with.  We  gave  this  to  a  number  of  visitors,  some  teachers, 
but  most  of  them  unemployed  Christians  of  our  Church.  They 
canvassed  all  the  people,  taking  with  them  the  prettiest  and  most 
attractive  cards,  on  which  Avere  a  list  of  the  lessons,  and  thirteen 
little  squares  underneath,  in  whicii  the  member  was  invited  to  make 
a  little  cross  every  Sunday  that  lie  kept  his  promise.  They  also 
took  round  a  printed  form— you  can  get  it  at  the  Sunday  School 
Union  depot,  Ludgate  Hill — which  was  signed  by  the  pastor,  and  which 
specially  invited  them  to  join  the  Home  Department  of  our  Sunday 
school.  A  great  many  said  :  "  Well,  we  don't  see  why  we  shouldn't. 
Leave  us  a  card."  The  card  was  left,  and  when  they  expressed  a  wish 
for  it  we  also  offered  them  the  printed  lesson  leaflet,  so  that  they 
might  be  helped  in  the  study  of  the  Word.  Well,  then,  at  the  next 
quarter  the  visitor  went  round  agaiu,  collecting  the  cards  and  taking  new 
ones,  which  gave  her  a  capital  oi)portunity  for  a  little  friendly,  loving 
Christian  talk,  and  they  were  invited  to  come  down  and  attend  our 
usual  review  of  the  quarter's  lessons,  and  in  this  way  we  began  to  find 
our  gallery  at  the  churcb  filling  up  on  Sunday  with  strange  faces.  A 
few  more  began  to  drop  into  the  prayer-meeting.  Some  came  to  the 
school,  and  some  said :  "  \Vc  were  once  Sunday-school  teachers,  and 
used  to  love  the  old  Sunday  school.  May  we  come  back  ?  Perhaps 
you  can  set  us  to  work."  So  the  Department  has  now  grown  to  200 
members,  and  every  now  and  then  names  are  proposed  at  our  Church 
meeting.  Then  we  ask,  "  How  did  this  friend  come  forward  ?"  "  Oh, 
looked  up  by  the  Home  Department.  He  and  his  wife  were  picked  up 
by  our  Home  visitors."  I  contend  that  if  the  churches  in  this  country 
will  only  take  up  this  simple  idea  just  sketched  out,  the  antcnnje  of 
the  churches,  touching  the  homes  round  about  them,  and  getting 
Christian  people  to  take  a  part  in  the  work,  you  cannot  tell  the 
blessing  that  will  result. 

I  sliall  never  forget  our  first  anniversary  after  the  Home  Department 
had  been  started.  We  had  two  or  three  large  blocks  of  seats  filled 
with  members  of  the  Home  Department.  One  dear  working-man 
sitting  in  the  front  row  shook  my  hand,  as  he  said,  with  delight,  "  I 
cannot  thank  God  enough  for  this  Home  Department.  It  has  brought 
ine  back  to  the  Bible,  and  I  thank  you  for  sending  the  invitation."  I 
say,  Go  and  establish  this  movement ;  go  and  look  into  the  depths  of 
its  possibilities,  and  I  venture  to  say  you  will  thank  God  you  attended 
this  week  of  Convention  and  had  your  eyes  opened  to  one  of  the  most 
important  auxiliaries  of  Sunday  school  work  that  could  possibly  be 
established  in  connection  with  it. 

The  pKEsiDENT :  When  we  aaked  Professor  Davison  to  take  part 
in  the  Convention,  it  was  some  time  before  we  received  an  answer, 
because  he  was  iu  America.  We  aie  very  much  pleased  that  he  is 
with  us  this  afternoon.  Professor  Davi.son,  of  the  Wesleyan  College, 
Handsworth,  will  now  introduce  the  topic  of  Bible  Study  at  Home. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  177 


BIBLE  STUDY  AT  HOME. 

By  Professor  W.  T.  Davison,  D.D.  (  Wesleyan  College, 
Handsivorth,  Birmingham). 

Tlic  Eible  is  the  text-book  of  the  Sunday  school  teaelier.  Eveti 
ia  usiug  an  ordinary  text-book  of  secular  knowledge,  the  teaelier  must 
know  more  than  the  immediate  lesson  to  be  taught ;  an  able  teacher 
will  know  the  whole  book  and  much  besides.  But  the  Bible  is  not  a 
mere  manual  of  information ;  to  all  of  us  it  is  a  sacred  volume, 
standing  alone  among  books,  teaching  us  the  will  of  God  and  bringing 
us  iuto  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  for  us  the  way,  the  truth  and  the 
life.  It  would  seem  to  follow,  therefore,  that  such  a  book  is  regularly, 
fully,  and  earnestly  studied — by  all  Christians,  but  especially  by 
those  who  have  to  teach  others.  I  am  afraid  this  is  far  from  being  the 
case.  We  read  a  great  deal  about  the  Bible  uow-a-days  ;  but  that  is 
a  very  different  thing  from  reading  tiie  book  itself.  Education  has 
advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds,  but  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
itself  is  still  all  too  rare  amongst  Christians. 

I  distinguish  study  from  mere  chapter-reading — a  good  habit  in 
itself,  infinitely  better  than  neglect,  often  quite  sufficient  for  many 
practical  purposes,  but  not  furnishing  the  knowledge  required. 
Distinguish  it  again  from  memory  work,  which  is  only  one  important 
subdivision  of  study.  Distinguish  it  further  from  the  specific 
preparation  of  a  Sunday-school  lesson,  or  a  sermon  ;  that  supply  of  the 
immediate  need  of  the  hour  which  may  prove  an  important  stimulus 
to  study,  but  cannot  supply  the  place  of  the  sustained  habitual 
systematic  effort  to  make  the  book  as  such  our  own.  Where  such  real 
study  does  take  place,  it  will  be  of  various  kinds,  according  to  the 
needs  of  the  student.  The  scholar  and  the  critic  pursue  their  own 
methods  for  their  own  ends  ;  the  minister  likewise  considers  his  ends 
in  preaching,  and  the  Sunday-school  teacher,  whilst  no  less  earnest  or 
thorough,  naturally  piirsues  his  study  on  his  own  lines.  This  lust 
method  of  using  the  sacred  book  forms  the  subject  of  this  pai)er. 

Our  mode  of  studying  any  book  will  depend  on  what  that  book  is, 
and  I  wish  to  remind  j'ou  at  this  stage  that  the  Bible  is  at  the  same 
time  (1)  a  Literature ;  (2)  a  Eevelatiou.  We  might  perhaps  say  more 
accurately  two  literatures,  but  in  any  case  it  contains  a  series  of  books 
written  by  men,  among  men,  for  men ;  and  at  the  same  time,  according 
to  our  belief,  it  is  the  record  of  a  divine  revelation,  leading  up  to, 
culminating  in,  and  leading  on  from  the  person  and  work  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  From  both  these  points  of  view  the  Bible  forms  one 
organic  whole.  There  is  a  unity  in  the  literature  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, in  the  literature  of  the  New,  and  in  that  whole  of  which  these 
two  form  essential  constituent  parts.  There  is  a  unity  also  in  the 
divine  revelation  here  given,  and  from  both  these  points  of  view  we 
are  bound  to  insist  on  the  fact  that  the  Bible  is  an  organism.    By  an 


178  WorlcVs  Third 

organism  we  mean  a  strucUirc  which  is  constituted  by  the  intimate 
connection  of  its  parts,  every  part  having  its  place  in  a  living  whole, 
unintelligible  except  in  relation  to  it ;  and  the  whole,  in  its  turn,  can 
only  be  properly  understood  by  an  examination  of  the  organs  which 
minister  to  and  maintain  its  life.  If  it  is  now  a  mere  commonplace  to 
speak  of  the  Bible  as  an  organism,  you-will  notice  tiiat  from  it  there 
follows  a  very  simple  but  very  suggestive  corollary,  which,  if  it  were 
accepted,  would  revolutionize  the  study  of  many  Sunday-sch<jol 
teachers,  viz.,  that  to  know  the  parts  of  the  Bible  you  must  know  the 
whole,  and  that  you  might  as  well  study  hand  or  foot,  eye  or  brain,  of 
an  animal  without  reference  to  the  living  body  as  dismember  tiio 
Biljle  and  profess  to  study  it  adequately  in  parts  and  sections. 

The  impoitance  of  this  firist  canon  of  study — remember  that  the 
Bible  is  one  living,  organic  whole — will  soon  appear.  It  is  of 
imjTOrtance — 

(a.)  For  the  proper  understanding  of  any  part  to  say  that  such  and 
such  a  passage  is  "  in  the  Bible ''  is  unintelligent.  Where  is  it,  by 
whom  was  it  uttered  or  written,  and  in  wliat  relation  does  it  stand  to 
the  whole  ?  When  Christ  said  that  a  man  who  said  to  his  brother, 
Thou  fool,  was  in  danger  of  "  the  Gehenna  of  fire,"  what  did  He 
mean  ?  How  can  We  tell  what  He  meant  there  or  elsewhere  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  without  examining  His  words  in  relation  to 
their  context,  the  teaching  of  "  them  of  old  time "  which  had  gone 
before  and  His  own  which  followed  ?  The  prophets  cannot  be  rightly 
studied  without  looking  forward,  nor  the  Epistles  without  looking 
back. 

(b.)  Tlie  preservation  of  due  proportion  in  tlie  various  parts. 
Exactly  why  certain  books,  and  these  alone,  form  the  Bible,  is  not 
now  the  question ;  but  taking  the  books  of  the  Canon  as  one  whole,  it 
is  clear  that  they  are  not  of  equal  value ;  that,  as  R.  Baxter  put  it, 
some  are  as  the  nails  and  hairs  in  the  human  body,  others  as  the  ear 
and  eye,  the  head  or  the  heart  of  the  living  frame. 

(c.)  Here  lies  our  only  security  for  putting  Christ  as  tlie  centre  of 
all  our  Bible  study.  Only  from  this  central  point  of  view  can  this 
apparently  miscellaneous  mass  of  literature  be  arranged  so  that  each 
part  shall  find  its  right  place  ;  only  from  tliis  standpoint  can  the  wide 
and  varied  landscape  be  rightly  seen  ajid  understood.  As  in  that 
well-known  picture  of  Dore,  "Christ  leaving  the  Prretorium,"  every 
line  leads  up  to  the  One  central  figure,  and  if  this  were  removed,  tlie 
whole  grouping  would  be  seen  to  be  meaningless — so  in  Bible-study. 
Let  no  portion  of  sacred  Scripture  be  considered  without  bringing  it 
into  the  light  of  Christ  as  the  central  sun. 

Many  ditficulticB  will  thus  disappear.  How  large  a  proportion  of 
the  objections  which  are  raised  against  the  Bible  vanish  when  the 
necessarily  progressive  character  of  Divine  teaching  is  borne  in  mind, 
the  education  that  was  needed  to  prepare  the  way  for  Christ.  He 
Himself  laid  down  this  principle  more  than  once,  as  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  *'  It  was  said  to  them  of  old  time,  but  I  say  unto  you," 


Sunday  School  Convention.  179 

and  again,  "  Moses  for  the  hardness  of  your  hearts  gave  you  this 
commandment."  Further,  the  whole  subject  of  the  relation  between 
the  old  and  new  covenants,  the  meaning  of  the  law  and  its  accom- 
panying ritual,  of  prophecy  and  its  fulfilment,  the  existence  and 
meaning  of  types,  and  many  other  topics  can  only  be  understood  by 
the  observance  of  this  important  canon.  The  writers  of  the  books 
themselves  very  frequently  point  us  forward  or  point  us  back,  and 
when  they  do  not,  it  is  well  for  ^ls,  whatever  part  of  Scripture  we  are 
studying  and  wish  thoroughly  to  understand,  to  put  it  in  its  due 
relation  to  the  whole. 

]Make  the  Bible  self-interpreting.  You  are  perhaps  acquainted  with 
Bagster's  excellent  "  Commentary  wholly  Biblical,"  but  it  is  better, 
and  not  difficult,  for  each  student  to  form  his  own.  It  does  not 
follow  that  you  will  weary  scholars  with  multiplied  references,  but 
the  teacher  is  bound  to  enrich  his  own  mind  and  amplify  his  teaching 
by  this  method  of  study.  The  best  illustrations  for  lessons  are  to  be 
foimd  within  the  covers  of  the  book  itself ;  doctrine,  on  the  one  hand, 
being  illustrated  from  history  and  examples,  and  the  meaning  of 
narratives  brought  out  by  references  to  Bible  principles.  If  in  study 
we  strive  to  make  the  whole  book  oxir  own,  every  part  will  gain 
unspeakably  in  significance. 

Of  course,  it  is  impossible  for  any  man  to  know  the  whole  com- 
pletely. The  wisest  are  they  who  are  most  conscious  of  their  own 
ignorance.  But  relatively  and  comparatively  we  may  make  this 
canon  our  ruling  principle,  and  it  seems  to  me  to  be  of  such  impor- 
tance that  I  have  moulded  this  short  paper  on  the  lines  of  its  obser- 
vance. In  carrying  it  out,  our  study  may  be  made  to  apply  to  mind 
and  heart  and  life,  and  a  few  words  upon  the  bearing  of  each  of  these 
— critical  and  intellectual  study,  devotional  study,  and  practical  study 
— may  further  illustrate  our  topic. 

The  Bible  requires  to  be  studied  like  any  other  book,  with  all  our 
reasoning  powers.  This  brings  us  to  the  much  discussed  subject  of 
modern  Biblical  criticism  :  What  has  the  Sunday  school  teacher  to  do 
with  it?  Speaking  generally,  I  think,  very  little;  but  every  teacher 
may  understand  what  is  meant  by  it — learn  not  to  be  afraid  of  it, 
leave  the  work  itself  to  those  whom  it  chiefly  concerns,  and  then 
acquaint  himself  with  the  best  results  of  the  science  when  these  are 
fairly  and  firmly  established.  Criticism  means  inquiry  and  judgment  ; 
Biblical  criticism  means  investigation  into  the  books  of  the  Bible  on 
their  literary  side,  inquiring  as  to  the  text,  date,  authorship,  contents, 
and  composition  of  the  books,  and  forming  a  judgment  according  to 
the  best  light  available.  No  Christian,  at  least  no  Protestant,  should 
be  afraid  of  such  inquii-y,  even  if  from  time  to  time  it  should  be  found 
needful  to  modify  opinions  held  concerning  some  books,  their  date, 
structure,  or  meaning.  But  not  in  one  case  in  ten  thousand  is  it 
desirable  to  discuss  these  questions  in  class ;  perhaps  only  one  teacher 
in  a  thousand  need  to  consider  controversial  questions  for  himself; 
while  every  man  of  the  thousand  and  of  the  ten  thousand  may  with 

N  2 


180  World's  Third 

ease  obtain  a3  much  of  the  latciit  information  as  is  ureessary  for  the 
work  he  has  to  do.  But  the  observance  of  the  principle  I  have  named 
will  keep  us  from  bestowing  too  much  attention  upon  minutiaj,  and 
will  set  before  us  continually  that  one  main  end  and  object  of  Kevela- 
tiou  which  the  Sunday-school  teacher  needs  especially  to  keep  in  view. 

A  large  portitm  of  the  results  of  tlie  modern  study  of  the  Bible 
lies  outside  the  range  of  controversy,  and  an  acquaintance  with  these 
will  be  found  to  give  freshness  and  vividness  to  teaching.  The  science 
of  geology  has  taught  lis  much  concerning  tiie  earth's  crust,  that  it 
was  not  posited  in  one  mass  at  one  moment,  but  was  formed  through 
ages  by  agencies  of  tire  and  water,  by  processes  of  stratification, 
denudation,  and  the  like,  and  tlius  has  given  wonderful  interest  to  the 
study  of  the  earth's  strata  ;  so  with  the  study  of  the  Bible  documents, 
now  happily  brought  within  easy  reach  of  the  many.  As  your 
morning  walk  is  made  infinitely  more  interesting  by  only  a  slight 
knowledge  of  botany  and  geology,  such  measure  of  acquaintance  with 
Biblical  criticism,  in  its  established  and  generally  accepted  results, 
such  as  is  easily  attainable  by  the  thoughtful  Sunday-school  teacher, 
will  be  found  of  inestimable  advantage. 

The  following  points  may  be  more  briefly  referred  to  as  deserving  of 
attention  in  this  part  of  our  subject : 

(a.)  The  use  of  the  K.V.,  with  its  marginal  readings,  as  a  great  help 
in  bringing  an  English  reader  nearer  to  the  original.     Illustrate  from — 

Gen.  iv.  7      .  .  .   sin  a  croucher  at  the  door. 

1  Sam.  xiii.   1  .  .  Saul  one  year  old. 

Isa.  ix.  3        .  .  .  gloom  and  light. 

Mark  iii.  29  .  .  eternal  sin. 

1  Cor.  iv.  4    .  .  •  by  myself. 

Phil.  iii.  21   .  .  .  body  of  humiliation. 

(h.)  A  study  of  Bible  words — e.g.,  in  St.  John,  ask  carefully  what  is 
the  meaning"  of  "Life,"  "Light,"  "Truth,"  "World,"  "Glory." 
Form  the  habit  of  not  passing  phrases  such  as  "  the  blood  of  Christ 
cleanseth  from  all  sin"  without  understanding  tliem.  Care  is 
necessary  to  remove  all  obscurities  from  phrases  like  these,  that 
familiarity  may  not  delude  us  into  imagining  we  understand  them. 
Else  questions  from  children  will  often  awkwardly  undeceive  us  and 
expose  our  ignorance. 

(c.)  Read  always  so  as  to  mark  the  connection  of  thought.  As 
often  as  may  be,  a  whole  book,  or  considerable  portion  of  one,  should 
be  read  at  a  sitting ;  and  smaller  portions,  read  in  paragraphs,  so  as  to 
preserve  the  argument.  Remember  the  importance  of  literary  form ; 
not  only  as  regards  metaphors,  common  in  poetry,  but  the  customary 
phraseology  of  prophecy,  the  literary  habits  of  historians,  &c. 
Illustrate  from — 

(1)  Christ's  paradoxes. 

(2)  The  symbolic  language  of  Apocalypse. 


Sunday  School  Convention,  181 

(3)  The  book  of  Ecclesiastcs  and  the  words  put  into  the  mouth  of 
Solomon. 

(rf.)  As  regards  "  Helps,"  happily  in  these  days  they  abound. 

First  of  all,  place  the  Eevised  Version,  which  should  be  studied  by 
all  teachers. 

Then  the  Teachers'  Bibles,  with  their  miscellaneous  but  most 
valuable  contents. 

Then  Commentaries,  which  should  be  carefully  selected  and 
sparingly  used. 

Then  books  of  information — e.g ,  on  history  and  geography — Lives 
of  Christ,  descriptions  of  the  Holy  Land,  &c. 

Lastly,  a  long  way  below  these,  may  be  named  as  useful  in  their 
place,  occasionally,  for  busy  teachers,  magazines,  books  of  illustra- 
tions, prepared  lessons.  But  first,  last,  and  middle,  let  it  be  our  aim, 
to  familiarise  ourselves  with  the  sacred  Book  itself  in  all  its  length, 
and  breadth,  and  depth,  and  height,  in  the  fulness  of  its  varied 
teaching  and  in  all  its  parts  and  corners. 

2.  In  the  last  section  I  have  been  speaking  as  if  this  book  were  a 
Homer,  or  a  Dante,  a  mere  classic  of  literature  translated  from  another 
tongue.  Some  students  appear  to  treat  it  as  if  it  were  little  or  nothing 
more,  but  many  here  will,  I  hope,  have  been  saying  to  themselves  that 
as  yet  the  speaker  has  hardly  touched  the  main  part  of  his  subject. 

We  may  not  agree  in  definitions  of  inspiration,  and  I  am  not  going 
to  trouble  you  with  one.  But  all  of  us  surely  agree  that  a  touch  of 
the  Divine  finger,  a  breath  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  separates  this  book 
from  all  others  by  a  whole  heaven ;  and  that  he  who  only  sets  to  work 
to  study  the  Bible  by  the  aid  of  philology,  archajology,  palaeography, 
and  other  ographies  and  ologies,  has  yet  to  learn  what  Bible  study 
means.  It  needs  a  mind  to  understand  this  book  and  all  the  facul- 
ties of  all  the  wise  are  well  spent  upon  it.  But  pectus  facit  theologum, 
the  heart  makes  the  true  student  and  teacher  of  Scripture.  Even  for 
the  right  use  of  the  intellect  the  soul  is  largely  responsible. 

This  is  seen  to  be  necessary,  when  we  consider  the  subject  matter  of 
the  book.  A 'difference  is  discernible  between  the  study  of  mathe- 
matics and  history,  and  again  of  history  and  poetry ;  in  some  subjects 
taste,  imagination,  insight,  are  important  factor.-?.  So  in  the  study  of  the 
Bible  it  is  especially  necessary  that  a  student  should  understand  what 
is  meant  by  thinking  out  the  meaning  of  the  words  on  his  knees.  A 
lowly,  reverent  attitude  of  spirit,  that  has  not  forgotten  how  to  wonder, 
adore,  and  obey,  that  loves  to  bend  before  the  Highest  and  knows  the 
Highest  when  it  appears ;  the  eye  couched  so  as  to  free  it  from  the 
cataracts  and  films  which  darken  our  natural  vision ;  the  ear  of  the 
soul  opened  so  as  to  hear  the  distant  notes  of  heavenly  music — these 
faculties  are  absolutely  necessary  for  one  who  would  really  study  the 
Bible  and  teach  its  full  meaning.  So  in  1  Cor.  ii.  the  "  Natural," 
merely  "  psychical "  man  cannot  understand,  it  is  to  the  spiritual  man 
that  the  Divine  Spirit  makes  known  the  things  of  the  Spirit.  And  to 
this  end  awe,  wonder,  love,  devotion,  purity,  obedience  are  needed,  and 


182  World's  Third 

above  all  that  "  simplicity,"  as  of  the  little  child,  which  the  Master 
has  told  us  is  the  key  to  open  many  diflScult  locks  and  admit  us  through 
the  gates  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

Here  let  mo  emphasize  two  considerations  which  may  at  first 
sight  appear  to  contradict  each  other,  but  which  are  in  fact  mutually 
supplementary.  One  is  the  need  of  familiarity  with  the  Bible,  the 
possession  of  a  well-thumbed  and  weU-worn  copy,  carried  everywhere, 
consulted  at  all  times — "  when  thou  sittest  in  thine  house,  when  thou 
walkest  by  the  way,  when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest 
up."  No  study  of  the  Bible  can  suffice  which  does  pot  bring  about  a 
homely  and  happy  familiarity  with  its  contents,  a  familiarity  which 
breeds,  not  contempt,  but  an  increasing  and  deepening  reverence. 
Only  he  who  loves  the  book  so  much  as  to  be  thoroughly  at  home  with 
it  can  attain  real  proficiency  in  Bible  knowledge.  But  the  student 
at  the  same  time  must  seek  for  those  special  and  rare  moments  of 
insight  which  may  seem  at  the  farthest  remove  from  everyday 
common-place  knowledge,  yet  —  strangely  enough  —  were  granted 
most  fully  and  most  frequently  only  to  those  who  had  laid  the 
lower  foundation  for  the  higher  acquaintanceship.  Tlie  inexhaustible 
character  of  Bible  teaching  is  best  understood  by  those  who  have 
put  it  to  the  fullest  test  by  making  the  Book  a  constant  com- 
panion, and  to  these  for  the  most  part  are  granted  the  moments  of 
deep  spiritual  insight,  without  which  no  part  of  the  Bible  can  be 
fully  understood,  and  some  parts  cannot  be  understood  at  all.  "  Let 
the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom." 

3.  "Tiiou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  mind,  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength."  We  have  considered  the 
parallels  to  the  two  former  clauses  as  regards  the  love  of  God's 
word ;  what  corresponds  to  the  third  clause  ?  How  can  a  man  be  said 
to  love  the  Bible  "  with  his  strength "  ?  Not  so  much,  I  think,  by 
the  diligence  he  bestows  on  the  study,  as  by  the  strenuous  attention 
he  gives,  that  the  living,  immediate,  practical  objects  of  the  Booh  may 
be  ever  kept  in  view.  As  some  reading  of  the  Bible  fails  through 
being  unintelligent,  and  intelligent  study  may  [fail  through  being 
cold  and  heartless,  so  study  that  is  both  thoughtful  and  earnest  may 
prove  in  practice  sterile  and  unproductive.  It  may  be  too  speculative, 
or  it  may  have  too  much  reference  to  the  mere  enjoyment  of  religion. 
The  Bible  is  a  living  book,  and  is  intended  both  to  minister  to  life  and 
issue  in  life.  It  is  not  a  spiritual  opiate  or  anodyne,  it  is  intended  to 
make  men  think,  feel,  and  act. 

Hence  the  real  student  must  see  to  it,  even  while  in  the  study,  that 
he  does  what  Browning  describes  in  reference  to  the  old  book  ho 
found  in  Florence  : 

"  I  fused  my  live  soul,  and  that  inert  stuff 
Before  attempting  smithcraft." 

Even  sacred  words  are  comparatively  inert,  till  fused  with  the  liviug 
soul  under  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit.    Full  of  life  these 


Sunday  School  Convention.  183 

words  were  when  uttered;  full  of  life  they  are  still,  when  rightly 
used ;  but  it  is  intended  by  God  that  they  should  be  made  to  live 
again  in  every  generation  by  His  faithful  servants  ;  so  that  the  same 
Spirit,  who  in  the  first  instance  moved  on  the  hearts  of  the  writers, 
shall,  age  after  age,  move  on  the  hearts  of  hearers  by  means  of  men 
whom  He  has  taught  how  to  be  teachers.  If  what  may  be  called  this 
"  active "  element — remembering  the  phrase  in  Heb.  iv.  12,  K.V., 
"the  Word  of  God  is  living  and  active" — the  practical  bearing  of 
truth  were  more  frequently  present  in  our  study,  we  should  not  hear 
so  many  complaints  of  dry,  dull  sermons  and  Sunday-school  lessons. 

Of  methods,  -there  is  no  room  to  speak.  But  as  sermons  are 
prepared  sometimes  on  what  is  called  the  "  textual,"  sometimes  on 
the  "  topical "  method,  so  the  Bible  student  may  sometimes  Tpursue 
chapters  and  books  consecutively,  sometimes  take  subjects  and  follow 
them  through  the  various  treatment  they  receive  in  Scripture.  James 
Smetham,  in  his  charming  "  Letters,"  tells  how  for  waeks  he  made 
the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  his  one  study,  so  that  it  was  "  a  kind  of 
Mont  Blanc  in  importance  and  attractiveness."  He  tells  us  tliat  he 
never  got  tired  of  his  work,  though  he  would  never  have  the 
opportunity  of  unfolding  his  thoughts,  except  to  a  small  class  of 
hearers.  "  No  labour  seems  too  great,  no  reiteration  too  frequent,  if 
one  can  but  really  grasp  such  a  piece  of  work  as  the  Galatians  so  as 
to  give  it  over,  simplified  and  impressive,  into  the  hands  and  hearts 
and  heads  of  half-a-dozen  others."  That  is  the  spirit  of  the  true 
Sunday-school  teacher,  and  for  liis  work,  so  lowly  and  yet  so  lofty, 
no  labour  is  too  great,  no  study  too  arduous,  no  jweparatiou  too 
complete.  Milton's  sublime  invocation  was  used  in  the  undertaking 
of  what  was  indeed  a  sublime  task,  but  it  may  be  used  by  every 
lowly,  simple,  earnest  Christian  teacher : 

"  And  chiefly  thou,  0  Spirit,  that  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples  the  upright  heart  and  pure, 
Instruct  me,  for  thou  knowest — what  in  me  is  dark, 
Illumine ;   what  is  low,  raise  and  support  ; 
That  to  the  height  of  this  great  argument 
I  may  assert  eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men." 

To  understand  the  mind  and  heart  and  will  of  God  concerning  man 
and  his  salvation,  and  unfold  it  to  others,  young  or  old,  is  one  of  the 
loftiest  of  all  tasks  and  can  only  be  accomplished  by  careful  and 
prayerful  Bible  Study  at  Home. 


184  World's  Third 

BIBLE  STUDY  IN  A  PKEPAKATION  CLASS. 
Mr.  W.  H.  Gkoser,  B.Sc.  (Hon.  Literary  Sec.  Sunday  School  Union). 


I  have  been  commissioned  by  my  colleagues  to  present  a  paper 
giving  a  view  of  the  "Teachers'  Preparation  Class"  (so  called  in  our 
English  Sunday  schools)  as  a  field  of  "  Bible  Study." 

In  pursuance  of  this  object  it  seems  needful,  first,  to  define  what  ia 
meant  by  such  a  Class ;  and,  secondly,  to  enquire  as  to  its  actual  or 
possible  capabilities  of  promoting  the  "  study  "  of  the  Bible. 

The  mobt  ready-to-hand  definition  of  a  "  Teachers'  Preparation 
Class  "  would  be,  "  a  Class  that  prepares  Teachers."  This  reminds 
one  of  the  late  Lord  Beaconsfield's  celebrated  definition  of  an  Arch- 
deacon— "  a  person  who  performs  arehidiaconal  functions  ;  "  but  though 
both  arc  equally  compact  and  epigrammatic,  they  are  a  trifle  nebulous 
also.  Moreover  (as  my  friend  Mr.  Sindall  will  demonstrate  to-morrow), 
there  are  classes  which  prepare  Teachers,  and  yet  are  not,  technically 
speaking,  "  Teachers'  Preparation  Classes."  Perhaps  a  detached  frag- 
ment of  what  our  scliool  books  used  to  cull  "Outlines  of  History" 
will  make  this  point  clear,  consistently  with  the  most  rigid  economy 
of  present  time  and  space. 

The  fifteen  years  comprised  between  ISiS  and  18G3,  or  thereabouts, 
were  characterised,  at  least  in  this  country,  by  a  new  and  vigorous 
tlevelopment  of  Sunday-school  ideas,  in  the  direction  of  organisation 
and  methods.  The  Senior  Department  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
Infant  or  Primary  Department  ou  the  other,  were  added  to  the  school 
and  speedily  incorporated  with  it ;  while  the  earliest  efforts  to  jirovide 
recreative  engagements  for  scholars  on  week  evenings  belong  to  the 
same  period  of  revival.  Last,  but  not  least,  a  demand  arose,  if  not 
exactly  for  "  an  Education  for  the  Educator,"  yet  at  least  for  some 
kind  and  measure  of  preparatory  .instruction  and  training  for  the 
Sunday-school  worker,  corresponding  to  that  wliich  was  being  claimed 
for  his  co-labourer  in  the  Day  school. 

This  brings  us  to  the  origin  of  the  "  Peepakation  Class,"  the 
earliest  attempt  to  meet  such  demand  on  an  organised  plan ;  though 
doubtless  there  bad  previously  been  individual  efforts  in  the  same 
direction,  put  forth  by  ministers  and  superintendents  who  were  in 
advance  of  their  time. 

The  germinal  idea  of  that  type  of  Preparation  Class  with  which  we 
in  tills  country  are  the  most  familiar,  is  credited,  I  think  justly,  to 
the  late  Mr.  Francis  Cuthbertson,  for  many  years  an  honoured  and 
devoted  member  of  the  Sunday  School  Union  Committee  ;  who  one 
day  remarked  to  the  father  of  the  present  writer  that  he  saw  no 
reason  why  the  "  mutual "  principle  (then  coming  into  use  in  life  assur- 
ance) should  not  be  applied  to  the  preparation  and  training  of  Sunday 


Sunday  Scliool  Convention.  185 

School  Teachers  for  their  work.  The  matter  was  laid  before  the 
Committee,  who  characteristically  responded,  "An  excellent  idea;  go 
and  put  it  in  operation,  and  we  will  supply  room  and  mate'riel." 

The  challenge  was  accepted.  Mr.  Cuthbertson  formed  a  class  on 
the  mutual  principle,  became  its  first  President,  and  conducted  its 
weekly  engagements  with  much  acceptance  and  usefulness  for  a  period 
of  seven  years. 

The  proceedings  were  simple  and  methodical  enough.  Their 
specific  object  was  to  consider  unitedly  the  lesson  appointed  for  the 
ensuing  Sunday  afternoon,  on  the  basis  of  the  monthly  Notes  on  the 
Scripture  Lessons,  a  copy  of  which  every  member  was  expected  to 
bring  to  the  meeting.  After  the  allotted  chapter  or  portion  had  been 
read  round,  the  several  sections  of  the  Notes — introductory,  explana- 
tory, expository,  and  practical — were  also  read.  In  addition,  however, 
to  the  information  thus  supplied,  the  members  were  expected  and 
encouraged  to  contribute  further  facts  and  ideas,  to  state  difficulties, 
and  to  propound  questions.  This  arrangement  was  also  methodised  by 
the  appointment  of  certain  of  the  regular  attendants  as  referees  in 
the  various  departments  of  Biblical  lore,  included  in  or  related  to  the 
several  lesson  subjects  successively  under  Review.  A  commimity  of 
mental  and  spiritual  goods  was  thus  established,  by  which  each  could 
contribute  to  the  general  stock,  with  the  happy  conviction  tbat  he 
might  also  appropriate  as  much  as  he  would  without  impoverishing 
the  rest. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  an  organisation  so  simple  and  so 
practical  should  have  been  both  approved  and  imitated,  by  the  estab- 
lisliment  of  Classes  more  or  less  closely  conformed  to  the  metropolitan 
pattern  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  Visitors  from  the  provinces 
came,  saw,  and  rejiroduced,  to  the.lasting  benefit  of  the  Sunday  School 
cause. 

On  the  otlier  hand,  it  was  equally  natural  that,  as  years  went  by, 
the  original  scheme,  as  above  outlined,  should  have  needed  both  modi- 
fication and  enlargement.  For,  admirable  and  efiicient  as  it  was  up 
to  a  certain  point,  it  obviously  gave  little  or  no  help  beyond  the  mere 
matter  of  teaching.  How  to  arrange,  and  by  what  methods  to  impart, 
the  knowledge  thus  acquired,  were  beyond  the  objects  contemplated  in 
the  Preparation  Class.  The  members  learned  what  to  teach,  but  not 
how  to  teach  it ;  and  of  these  two  requisites  the  average  teacher  needed 
more  lielp  in  the  art  of  communicating  than  in  the  matter  to  be  conf- 
municated — as  indeed  is  the  case  to  this  day.  It  ought,  however,  to 
be  remembered,  in  justice  to  those  early  pioneers,  that  when  the  Pre- 
paration Class  was  originated,  no  systematised  attempt  had  been  made 
— at  least,  in  England — to  apply  the  principles  and  rules  of  teaching 
to  the  impartation  of  religious  truth. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  "fifties"  a  ^^  Training  Class"  (as  it  was 
named)  was  commenced  by  a  few  friends  in  the  south-west  of 
London ;  the  object  of  which  was  to  supply  a  course  of  instruction 
in  the  science  and  art  of  teacliing  ;  to  give  demonstrations,  by  oxpe- 


186  World's  Third 

riencctl  workers,  of  actual  class  instruction,  and  to  train  Ihc  mom1)crs 
to  imitate  the  latter  in  tlic  presence  of  their  associates.  This  was  felt 
to  bo  an  important  step  in  advance.  The  next  was  to  conibino  the 
preparation  and  training  class  methods  in  the  exercises  of  a  single 
class.  This  was  successfully  attempted  in  1859 ;  and  from  that  date 
to  the  present,  almost  without  intermission,  weekly  meetings  have 
been  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall,  Old  Bailey,  on  the  plan  thus  elaborated, 
with  only  such  improvements  as  time  and  experience  have  suggested. 
The  essential  feature  of  the  Preparation  Class  prevails  throughout, 
viz.,  tliat  all  the  engagements,  whether  Biblieal  study  or  practical 
lesson  giving,  have  special  reference  to  the  "  International "  subject 
appointed  for  the  coming  Lord's  Day  Afternoon.  Two  useful  additions 
have  been  made  by  the  introduction  of  written  outlines  of  lessons, 
and  also  of  Blackboard  sketches  and  diagrams ;  skilful  amateur 
artists  executing  wondrous  devices  on  that  modern  adjunct  to  the 
appliances  of  the  Sunday  school. 

Since  1848,  there  doubtless  has  been,  speaking  generally,  much 
•*  variation  of  species  by  natural  selection  "  and  environment,  in  Pre- 
paration Classes,  as  in  other  organisms.  In  some  the  mutual  principle 
is  aborted,  or  nearly  so, — the'  President  being  virtually  the  sole 
teacher;  in  others  no  systematic  sub-division  of  labour  is  attempted. 
But  in  all  which  are  rightly  designated  by  the  above  name,  the 
ensuing  Sunday's  lesson  claims  chief,  if  not  exclusive,  consideration. 


IL 

And  this  naturally  leads  to  the  second  point : — How  far  is  such  a 
Preparation  Class  a  real  and  profitable  sphere  of  study?  We  must 
modify  our  ordinary  conception  of  the  terra  "  study,"  as  used  by 
Professor  Davison  this  afternoon.     Instead  of 

"  The  calm  retreat,  the  silent  shade," — 

which  we  naturally  associate  with  ideal  Biblical  or  other  forms  of 
study, — quiet  meditation,  undisturbed, — we  are  transiiorted  to  a  social 
assemblage  of  fellow-learners,  ditfering  in  natural  and  acquired  gifts  ; 
witli  the  sympathy  of  numbers  to  enliven  and  stimulate,  yet  possibly 
to  distract  also. 

r  Whatever  elements  of  study  enter  into  such  engagements,  that  of 
persistent  meditation  can  hardly  be  included.  The  attitude  will  for 
the  time  be  not  reflective  or  introsijective,  but  rather  of  concurrent 
individual  effort  to  fix  the  attention  on  the  allotted  theme ;  to  lodge 
in  the  memory  and  understanding  the  facts  or  doctrines  communicated ; 
to  exercise  the  judgment  ou  the  various  opinions  advanced  ;  and  the 
imagination  on  the  scenes  and  incidents  described ;  wliile  both  eye  and 
hand  are  trained,  in  the  case  of  those  who  attempt  the  use  of  the  black- 
board. Thus  the  Preparation  Class,  if  honestly  used,  is  not  a  couch 
for  passive  indolence  or  even  for  mere  languid  receptiveness,  but  an 


Sunday  School  Convention.  187 

arena  of  vigorous  mental  activity;  and  by  such  use  and  effort  the 
faculties  are  strengthened  and  improved. 

But  more  than  this, — "  the  fellowship  of  kindred  minds,"  whose 
freedom  of  thought  is  not  censured  or  repressed,  tends  powerfully  to 
broaden  the  outlook  of  each,  to  round  off  the  sharp  angles  of  prejudice, 
and  to  give  juster  views  of  the  proportions  of  related  truths ;  while 
the  actual  store  of  knowledge  is  being  steadily  augmented. 

Nor  will  the  benefits  gained  be  restricted  to  the  sphere  of  intellect. 
It  is  hardly  possible  for  us  to  imite  in  fraternal  converse  on  these 
momentous  themes  which,  like  "  the  ladder  Jacob  saw,"  seem  to  link 
earth  with  heaven,  and  not  gain  a  tenderer  sympathy  with  their  teach- 
ings, a  keener  appreciation  of  their  matchless  worth,  and  a  deeper 
gratitude  to  Him  through  whose  eternal  purpose  they  have  been  made 
known  to  man.  Nor  can  wo  stand  with^  fellow-disciples,  like  the 
eleven  of  old, 

"  Beside  the  Syrian  sea," 

and  trace  the  earthly  footsteps  of  the  Son  of  God,  without  being  drawn 
in  loving  loyalty  nearer  to  our  Divine  Master  and  Friend,  and  nearer 
to  all  who  wait  for  His  appearing. 


in. 

With  such  convictions,  I  cannot  deem  the  Teachers'  Preparation 
Class  an  obsolete  institution,  even  in  its  original  form ;  but  rather  an 
agency  whose  full  nature  and  capabilities  are,  even  now,  after  the 
lapse  of  half  a  century,  but  very  imperfectly  recognised  or  understood. 
Let  me  be  permitted,  therefore,  to  close  this  necessarily  rough  and 
imperfect  sketch  by  venturing  on  a  few  brief  aphorisms ;  which,  not- 
withstanding their  form,  are  submitted  merely  as  points  for  my 
hearers'  consideration. 

(1.)  The  full  benefits  of  united  Bible  study  are  secured  only  when 
it  is  associated  with  study  which  is  -private  and  'personal.  The  latter 
should  both  precede  and  follow  the  former  ;  it  should  precede,  in  order 
that  the  student  may  be  able  to  contribute  something  to  the  common 
fund,  as  well  as  discover  on  what  points  his  own  knowledge  needs  to 
be  supplemented ;  it  should  follow,  in  order  that  he  may  review  the 
information  gathered  from  all  sources,  and  determine  what  and  how 
much  he  will  use  in  his  Sabbath  teachings. 

(2.)  In  the  large  majority  of  cases  the  Preparation  Class  will  best 
serve  its  specific  purpose  when  made  an  adjunct  to  the  individual 
school,  rather  than  as  a  distinct  organisation.  A  "  family  party " 
presided  over  by  the  pastor  (if  he  be  not  one  of  the  immoderately 
overworked),  or  in  his  absence  the  superintendent,  a  senior  teacher,  a 
deacon,  or  an  elder, — seems  to  me  the  ideal  of  such  a  class. 

(3.)  The  more  closely  the  mutual  principle  is  adhered  to,  with  its 
sub-division  of  labour,  the  less  onerous  will  be  the  duties  imposed  on 
the  President,  and  consequently  the  easier  the  task  of  obtaining  a 


188  World's  Third 

conductor  when  a  vacancy  occurs.  Doubtless  there  will  still  be  many 
teachers  whose  educational  advantages  liave  been  few,  and  whose 
attainments  are  slender  ;  but  they  should  be  encouraged  to  remember 
that  in  the  free-will  offerings  of  thought  and  experience  none  is  so 
poor  that  he  cannot  bring  an  oblation. 

(4.)  Unless  in  very  exceptional  cases — such  as  that  of  the  S.  S.Union 
Training  Class,  above  described,  where  visitors  are  invited  and  the 
membership  is  being  continually  recruited  from  various  sources — I 
deem  it  a  serious  mistake  to  hold  a  Preparation  Class  week  by  we(^k, 
throughout  the  whole  year.  The  unbroken  round  of  similar  engage- 
ments becomes  in  time  somewhat  monotonous ;  and  if  persisted  in, 
the  seeds  of  decay  and  dissolution  arc  unconsciously  sown.  This  I 
believe  to  be  the  most  potent  cause  of  the  high  rate  of  mortality  which 
has  too  often  prevailed  among  classes  commenced  with  the  most 
promising  auguries  of  continuance  and  success.  A  six  or  eight 
months'  course,  well  sustained,  will  accomplish  more  good,  and  will 
be  resumed  with  more  vigour  after  the  vacation,  than  one  which  drags 
feebly  through  the  summer  months  with  a  diminishing  handful  of 
attendants. 

(5.)  Besides  the  other  advantages  of  a  session  with  definite  limits, 
there  is  also  this,  that  it  allows  time  and  opportunity  for  holding  a 
two  or  three  months'  course  of  Normal  Class  Lectures  (such  as 
Mr.  Sindall  will  discuss)  in  which  the  schools  of  a  district  or  a  local 
Union  may  unite,  with  lasting  benefits  to  those  who  afterwards  resume 
attendance  at  their  own  Preparation  Classes.  Such  courses,  very 
admirably  arranged,  were  held  last  year  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Manchester  S.  S.  Union,  with  special  view  to  the  aiding  of  candidates 
at  the  ensuing  Annual  Examination  in  the  Art  of  Teaching. 

(6.)  It  appears  to  me  a  distinct  advantage  to  adopt  the  monthly 
Notes  on  the  Lessons  published  by  the  Sunday  School  Union,  or  some 
similar  printed  helps,  as  the  basis  of  the  engagements  of  a  Preparation 
Class.  Apart  from  the  excellence  of  the  material,  its  definite  and 
systematic  form  will  tend  to  counteract  the  tendency  to  drift  into 
vague  and  irrelevant  comments  and  reflections.  The  Introduction, 
Lesson  Setting,  and  Lesson  Story  or  Teaching  should  at  least  be  read 
aloud ;  and  then  the  Lesson  Plan,  with  its  several  "  Points,"  be  placed 
on  the  blackboard  as  an  outline,  for  discriminating,  not  slavish, 
imitation. 

(7.)  I  have  already  suggested  that  the  services  of  the  Pastor  and 
President  of  the  School  should,  as  a  rule,  be  sought,  as  conductor  of 
the  Teachers'  Preparation  Class.  I  deem  the  advantages  of  culture 
and  scholarship  (using  these  terms  relatively)  not  willingly  to  be 
foregone.  But  where,  from  any  cause,  this  cannot  be  arranged,  the 
best  help  attainable  should  be  promptly  secured.  One  of  the  most 
successful  conductors  I  have  known  was  associated  with  my  own  early 
work  as  a  teacher.  He  was  a  man  in  middle  life,  sorely  crippled  in 
body,  and  with  no  special  gifts  of  mind,  or  educational  advantages. 
Yet  these  unpromising  conditions  were  outweighed  by  diligent  study, 


Sunday  School  Convention.  169 

tact,  and  sympathetic  earnestness.  And  now,  after  the  lapse  of 
fifty  years,  the  Class  over  which  he  presided  is  a  bright  spot  in 
memory's  page. 

(8.)  Without  desiring  to  echo  the  tone  of  pessimistic  vaticination 
which  (as  history  shows)  is  one  characteristic  of  a  departing  century, 
I  may  be  permitted  to  remark,  in  conclusion,  that  many  of  the 
dominant  influences  surrounding  our  younger  men  and  women, 
especially,  at  the  present  time,  are  disastrously  inimical  to  study  of 
any  kind,  and  peculiarly  to  the  study  of  Holy  Scripture.  The 
enormous  multiplication  of  books  and  periodicals  tends  to  shallowness 
and  sciolism  rather  than  to  intellectual  vigour.  The  craze  for 
athletics  and  the  cycling  mania  develop  muscle  at  the  expense  of 
brain ;  and,  carried  to  excess  with  the  usual  reckless  devotion  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  promise  an  abundant  harvest  of  damaged  limbs 
and  vacuous  minds.  It  is  incumbent,  therefore,  on  our  Sunday  School 
workers,  the  leaders  of  Christian  Endeavour  Societies,  Reading  Unions, 
Guilds,  and  the  like,  to  reassert,  with  increasing  distinctness  and 
urgency,  the  pre-eminence  of  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  elements 
in  human  culture,  over  the  mere  "  bodily  exercise  which  profiteth  but 
a  little "  ;  and  to  sustain  their  own  and  all  other  agencies  which 
foster  thought  and  encourage  study  ;  and  among  them,  not  the  least 
useful  or  expansible,  the  Teachers'  Peepaeation  Class. 

The  hymn, "  O  Jesus,  I  have  promised,"  was  sung,  and  the  Chairman 
pronounced  the  Benediction. 


190  WorkVs  Third 


THIRD  DAY.— NINTH  SESSION. 

THE  BOOK,  THE  TEACHER,  THE  CHILD. 

The  Ninth  Session  was  held  in  the  City  Temple  on  Thursday  evening. 
The  preliminary  Song  Service,  by  members  of  the  Loudon  Sunday 
School  Choir,  conducted  by  Mr.  Jonathan  Rowley,  consisted  of  the 
following  selections  : — 

Anthem. — "  O  come,  let  us  sing." 

Hymn. — No.  28.     "  Hark,  Lark,  my  soul." 

Children's  Hymn. — "  Sufter  the  children  to  come  unto  Me." 

Children's  Solo. — "  0  rest  in  the  Lord." 

Children's  March. — "At  the  Lord's  command." 
The  chair  was  taken  by  Mr.  Robert  Whyte. 

After  the  singing  of  the  opening  hymn — No.  29.  "  In  the  nnme  of 
Jesus  " — prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Geobge  Hanson,  M.A, 

The  Chairman  then  spoke  as  follows : — 

Delegates  to  this  Convention  and  Christian  teachers,  we  have  no 
time  to-night  for  mere  formalities,  and  yet  you  will  pardon  me  if  just 
in  one  word  I  express  my  grateful  appreciation  of  the  honour  of  having 
been  invited  to  preside  over  this  meeting.  My  whole  heart  is  in  this 
work.  I  have  been  a  teacher  for  forty  years.  (Clieers.)  I  began  too 
young,  but  I  have  never  given  up.  Sunday  by  Sunday  I  face  my  class 
still,  always  with  increasing  joy  and  thankfulness,  and  I  find  that 
there  is  nothing  for  keeping  a  young  heart  under  grey  hairs  like 
keeping  in  sympathetic  touch  with  young  life. 

As  one  whose  whole  heart  is  in  the  work,  I  confess  to  looking  on 
these  gatherings  with  great  hope.  We  are  met  here  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  in  the  name  of  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  not  for 
mere  idle  talk.  There  is  something  to  come  out  of  these  meetings, 
something  of  new  impulse  born  of  our  united  touch  of  our  Divine 
Master  and  our  loving  contact  with  one  another.  And  there  is  some- 
thing to  come  out  of  our  exchange  of  ideas  and  exi)erience,  that  will 
tell  all  the  world  over  in  increased  hope,  and  possibly  in  renewed 
consecration  and  devotedness.  We  want  to  have  something  come  out 
of  these  meetings,  that  shall  make  our  work  in  England  and  in 
America  and  all  over  the  world  more  fruitfid. 

That  is  what  we  set  before  ourselves.  And  note,  please,  that  I  dare 
to  say  more  fruitful.    Our  work  is  not  fruitless  now.    We  know  that 


Sunday  School  Convention.  191 

t  is  feeble,  but  feeble  work  that  is  the  service  of  honest  hearts  God 
owns  and  blesses.  Only  those  who  do  not  know  Sunday  schools  say 
that  they  are  failures.  We  who  work  them — we  who  have  worked 
them — know  that  through  God's  blessing  they  succeed;  "our  labour 
is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

You  delegates  coming  from  the  north  and  the  south  and  the  east  and 
the  west  show  how  the  love  of  the  child  for  the  dear  Master's  sake  is 
becoming  bound  up  in  the  heart  of  the  Church ;  and  that  is  fruit. 
But  we  who  have  grown  gray  in  the  service  (and  I  have  been  thankful 
to  see  so  many  gray  heads  in  this  Convention — it  is  one  of  our  weak- 
nesses that  all  over  Ihe  world  so  many  of  us  lay  down  the  work  just 
when  we  are  beginning  to  know  how  to  do  it),  we,  I  doubt  not,  could, 
every  one  of  us,  tell  from  our  own  experience  of  blessings  abundant, 
of  tested  proofs,  of  hearts  won  for  Christ  and  lives  renewed,  that 
would  fill  your  hearts  with  wondering  i^raise.  We  have  not  failed 
(cheers). 

Only  let  us  be  frank.  We  are  not  satisfied.  We  who  know  how 
much  Sunday  school  work  is  doing  realise  how  much  it  is  capable  of 
doing,  and  we  want  to  do  more.  We  know  the  possibilities  of  Sunday 
school  work ;  we  long  to  see  the  reapers  coming  back  with  ampler 
sheaves.  We  desire  to  be  shown  how  we  can  work  better  and  garner 
more  fruit.  ,  That  is  what  we  are  here  for  to-night. 

We  have  got  the  very  kernel  of  the  subject  to-night :  Book,  Teacher, 
Child.  What  is  left  out  ?  May  I  use  a  metaphor,  and  speak  of  it  as 
Seed,  Sower,  Soil  ?  The  seed  is  the  Word  of  God  ;  we  cannot  improve 
on  that.  We  need,  too,  the  sunshine  of  God's  favour  and  the  rains  of 
God's  grace,  and  surely  He  who  is  readier  to  give  than  we  are  to  ask 
will  give  us  these.  But  the  ploughing,  the  tending — and  even  the 
gathering  out  of  the  stones — these  tasks  are  yours  and  mine.  We 
want  to  know  how  we  are  to  perform  them  better. 

I  can  confidently  assure  my  brothers  who  are  to  follow  me  that  they 
will  have  earnest  and  sympathetic  attention,  and  that  for  every  helpful 
word  they  say  we  will  give  God  thanks.  We  who  teach  need  ourselves 
to  be  taught ;  there  is  no  magic  in  religion.  All  teaching  requires  that 
the  words  we  use  shidl  be  understood,  that  we  shall  suggest  the  idea 
that  lies  behind  the  words.  Not  understood,  the  words  slip  over  the 
tongue,  into  the  ear  and  out  again,  and  leave  mind,  heart  and 
conscience  untouched  ;  understood  and  accei^ted,  they  change  lives. 
"  The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life." 
Our  dear  Master  said  it,  and  we  His  humble  servants  dare  to  say  it  in 
His  name.  We  want  to  learn  how  to  sow  the  seed  so  that  it  shall  bear 
fruit  indeed — make  the  life,  enlighten  the  mind,  impress  the  conscience, 
change  the  heart. 

That  is  the  last  word  I  want  to  say,  "  change  the  heart."  Do  you 
believe  it?  God  forbid  that  I  should  incite  you  to  impatience  or  dis- 
content if  you  do  not  see  the  fruit  of  your  labour  immediately ;  if  the 
blessing  tarry  it  is  sure  to  come.  But  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me 
that  we  may  venture  in  the  Master's  name  to  look  even  among  our 


192  World's  Third 

young  children  for  solid  conversions  to  Jesus  Christ  (cheers),  to  look 
for  the  communion  roll  being  fed  from  the  minister's  Bible-class.  We 
are  wont  to  look  with  a  certain  hesitancy  and  fear  on  these  youthful 
professions — when  a  young  boy  or  girl  professes  love  to  the  Saviour 
and  asks  for  leave  to  sit  at  His  table.  Why  should  this  be  so?  In  a 
deeper  sense  than  Wordsworth  intended,  it  is  true  that  "  Heaven  lies 
about  us  in  our  infancy."  But  our  Ma.ster  said  a  greater  thing  than 
that,  for  he  took  a  child  and  set  him  in  tlic  midst,  and  said,  "  Of  such 
is  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

Could  our  work  be  perfunctory,  could  our  preparation  be  scamped 
if  we  thought  that  a  soul  trembled  in  the  balance  ?  How  wistfully 
should  we  look  on  the  dear  faces  of  our  scholars,  and  with  what  long- 
ing hopeful  expectation  should  we  wait  till  we  could  say,  "  Here  am  1 
and  the  children  Thou  hast  given  me."     (Cheers.) 

Eising  again  the  Chairman  said :  Before  we  proceed  there  is  one 
matter  of  business  that  requires  our  attention.  I  have  to  communicate 
to  you  the  terms  of  a  resolution  passed  at  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery 
of  London  North  on  the  12th  of  July. 

"  The  following  resolution  was  proposed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Monro 
Gibson,  seconded  by  the  Rev.  W.  Aikman  McKea,  and  passed  unani- 
mously :  The  Presbytery  of  London  North  sends  fraternal  greetings  to 
the  members  of  the  World's  Sunday  School  Convention  now  assembled 
in  the  City  Temple,  We  heartily  join  in  the  welcome  extended  to 
the  brethren  from  abroad  ;  and  it  is  our  prayer  that  the  great  Head  of 
the  church  may  abundantly  bless  the  deliberations  of  the  Convention ; 
make  it  an  occasion  for  exhibiting  and  promoting  the  unity  of  the 
church ;  and  guide  it  to  such  decisions  as  will  lead  more  and  more  to 
the  ingathering  to  the  fold  of  Christ  of  the  children  and  youth,  and 
the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  all  over  the  world.  Attested  by 
Alex.  Jetfrey,  Presbytery  Cleik." 

There  is  also  another  greeting,  but  that  will  be  offered  to  you  by  the 
dear  and  honoured  pei  son  of  Sir  George  Williams.     (Cheers.) 

Sir  George  Williams. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Christian  friends,  as  the  President  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  I  have  the  pleasure,  tlic  honour,  the 
great  privilege  of  greeting  you  all,  and  saying  how  we  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  rejoice  in  your  work.  You  are  preparing 
the  ground  for  us  (laughter),  you  are  taking  out  the  stones  and 
planting  good  seed— seed  that  will  live  and  grow,  and  by-and-by 
will  be  reaped  by  us.  I  have  just  come  away  from  a  conference 
we  have  had  at  Basle  in  Switzerland.  If  you  had  seen  the  crowds 
of  young  men  attending  that  conference,  your  hearts  would  have 
been  rejoiced.  I  have  no  doubt  many  of  these  young  men  were  once 
in  Sunday  schools.  (A  voice  :  And  are  still.)  Now  they  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  I  have  no  doubt  wc 
shall  prepare  them  and  send  them  back  to  you  again  to  be  better 


Sunday  School  Convention.  193 

teachers  and  do  better  work.  At  the  conference  held  in  1894  we  had 
such  a  grand  demonstration  that  it  made  quite  an  impression  on  tlio 
Continent.  So  I  hope  your  conference — our  conference,  because  I  am 
one  of  you  (cheers) — will  be  equally  successful.  I  belong  to  you,  and 
therefore  if  I  can  in  any  way  encourage  you  by  saying  that  the  con- 
ference four  yeara  ago  made  such  an  impression  that  it  heialded  a 
worldwide  advance,  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  do  so.  Such  an  outcome 
was  possible  for  the  conference  of  which  I  have  spoken,  and  I  hope 
that  in  like  manner  your  conference  will  tell  upon  the  millions  of 
teachers  and  children  and  friends  of  the  Sunday  schools  throughout 
the  world.  I  can  only  say  what  a  pleasure  I  feel  to  be  here,  and 
share  in  any  way  in  your  noble  work  for  the  children.  I  see  that  Lord 
Kinnaird  is  here,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you  will  be  glad  to  hear  a  word 
or  two  from  him.    (Cheers.) 

The  Chairman  then  said :  I  am  asked  to  request  Sir  George  to  do 
us  one  more  favour  ;  that  is,  to  stand  just  in  front  of  the  desk  so  that 
we  can  all  see  him.     (Laughter  and  clieers.) 

Sir  George  Williams,  who  had  been  speaking  from  a  position  at  the 
back  of  the  platform,  where  he  was  invisible  to  a  large  proportion  of  . 
the  audience,  now  came  to  the  front  amidst  loud  applause,  and  bowed 
in  acknowledgment  of  the  greeting. 

Lord  Kinnaird  said  :  May  I  just  in  one  word  re-echo  the  greeting 
of  Sir  George  Williams,  and  assure  you,  as  President  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  how  we  appreciate  the  Sunday  school 
work  throughout  the  world.  I  believe  you  will  find  that  some  of  your 
best  teachers  are  members  of  our  Association.  We  believe  that  the 
more  we  can  meet  together  in  such  conferences  as  this,  and  get  a  fresh 
inspiration  for  our  work,  the  more  we  shall  extend  the  Kingdom  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  We  pray  for  you  that  you  may 
be  blest  in  your  work,  and  we  ask  that  you  will  pray  for  us. 
(Cheers). 

The  Chairman  then  called  on  Bishop  Fowler,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  U.S.A. 

THE   BIBLE. 

By  Bishop  Fowler,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Eepresentatives  of  thG 
English-speaking  People, — It  took  God  more  than  twenty-iive  Centuries 
to  i^repare  the  material,  the  human  vellum,  for  the  making  of  the 
Bible.  Then  He  was  fifteen  hundred  years  more  in  writing  it.  Then 
He  has  been  eighteen  hundred  years  more  in  unfolding  a  little  of  its 
contents.  His  eternal  puriwse  of  Redeeming  love.  You  must  not 
expect  me  to  say  much  about  it  in  twenty-five  minutes.  Its  greatness 
cannot  be  uttered  in  the  world  or  in  time.  The  universe  is  too  natrow 
for  it.  Time  is  too  short  for  it.  It  is  as  deep  as  the  foundations  of 
eternal  justice ;   as  wide  as  the  moral  government ;   as  high  as  the 

o 


194  WvrhVs  Third 

throne  of  the  Intiuite,  and  enduring  us  the  life  of  the  Almighty,  and 
its  inspiration  is  as  cxliaustlcss  as  tlie  love  of  God. 

The  catalogue  of  the  British  Museum  Library  fills  over  2000 
volumes.  The  contents  of  the  Bible  fills  all  known  worlds  and  shall 
fill  all  ages.  It  has  been  the  inspiration  of  more  literature  than  any 
ten  thousand  other  books  put  together.  The  vitality  of  Shakespeare 
comes  from  the  moral  convictions  of  the  Bible,  and  its  vigour  is  ribbed 
up  and  skulled  over  by  its  three  thousand  quotations  from  the  Bible. 

Now  and  then  a  man  spends  his  probation  in  polishing  his  buttons, 
but  ho  vanishes  and  is  forgotten  in  an  hour.  But  what  has  been  the 
inspiration  of  the  artists  and  workers  whose  works  are  cherished  and 
studied  from  age  to  age  ?  They  have  centred  about  this  book.  What 
are  the  monuments  of  Kaphael,  that  inspired  Seraph  with  a  brush. 
They  are  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Sladonna,  and  Angels,  and  Apostles 
and  Prophets,  all  out  of  the  Bible?  What  are  the  monuments  of 
Michael  Angelo,  who,  buried  like  the  Sphynx,  in  the  sands  of  centuries 
to  the  chin,  still  towers  above  all  living  men  ?  His  monument  is  in 
his  Christ,  and  David,  and  Moses,  and  in  his  Dome  of  St.  Peter,  in 
which  he  hung  the  Pantheon  between  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
The  inspiration  of  the  great  and  illumined  souls  is  from  the  Bible. 
Marvellous  Book ! 

I  will  pit  it  against  all  the  books  of  all  the  libraries  out  of  all  races 
and  out  of  all  the  ages,  and  on  all  the  subjects  it^  proposes  to  handle, 
and  in  all  the  lines  of  literature  it  touches  it  will  discount  them  all  at 
least  tenfold.  Do  you  want  poetry  ?  You  need  not  take  me  to  tho 
blind  old  bard  who  wandered  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean 
singing  of  Hector  and  Achilles,  nor  yet  to  England's  grander,  blind  old 
hard  who  sang  of  Paradise  Lost  and  Regained,  but  you  may  take  me  to 
Israel's  Royal  Singer.  In  all  the  great  elements  of  poetry,  in  beauty 
of  expression,  in  clearness  and  majesty  of  conception,  in  purity,  in 
elegance,  in  breadth,  in  tho  grandeur  of  the  themes,  in  all  that  makes 
a  great  poem  these  songs  of  Israel's  King  will  discount  all  others  fen 
to  one. 

Do  you  want  History  ?  You  need  not  take  me  to  Herodotus,  the 
Father  of  History,  but  you  may  take  mo  to  this  old  Book  and  we  will 
find  the  history  of  forty  centuries,  so  condensed  that  you  can  put  it 
into  your  waistcoat  pocket  and  hardly  know  that  you  have  anything 
there,  yet  it  treats  of  nations  and  kings,  and  wars  and  warriors,  and 
religion  and  worship  and  social  life,  presenting  a  picture  of  those 
centuries.     Wonderful  history ! 

Do  you  want  Oratory  ?  You  need  not  take  me  to  that  man  walking 
along  the  shores  of  Greece  with  i:)ebbles  in  his  mouth,  nor  yet  to  that 
greater  orator,  Daniel  Webster  of  America.  But  you  can  take  me 
into  the  early  chapters  of  this  Book  and  listen  to  one  of  Jacob's  sons 
pleading  before  an  unrecognized  brother  for  the  life  of  his  father.  In 
pathos,  in  tenderness,  in  power,  in  elevation  it  discounts  all  other 
oratory  of  record. 

Do  you  want  Logic  ?    Do  not  take  me  to  Aristotle,  that  brown- 


Sunday  School  Convention.  195 

haired,  booked  uosed  Jew  of  Tarsus  will  bind  your  Aristotle  hand  and 
foot  with  his  own  logic.  In  all  the  great  lines  of  literature  which  this 
Book  touches,  it  rises  into  the  solitude  of  matchless  pre-eminence. 

How  shall  we  use  this  marvellous  Boole?  Tlie  answer  is  simple  and 
certain,  viz..  Imprint  it  upon  the  mind  and  impress  it  upon  the  character 
of  the  children.  I  saw  frequently  in  Japan  this  sight,  viz.,  a  Heathen 
mother  taking  her  little  child  before  it  could  talk  much  to  the 
temple  and  making  it  bow  down  before  her  idol.  She  would  point  to 
the  monstrous  image  and  then  bow  herself  down  before  the  idol, 
touching  the  floor  with  her  forehead.  Then  she  would  bow  the  little 
child  before  the  same  idol,  making  the  little  thing  touch  the  floor  with 
its  forehead.  This  made  a  worshipper  of  the  child,  an  idolator  of  the 
man.  This  is  the  bulwark  hardest  for  Christianity  to  capture  and 
destroy. 

We  must  give  the  Bible  to  our  children  while  they  are  young  and 
plastic.  Lycurgus  caught  sight  of  the  fact  that  childhood  is  a  fort, 
and  that  whoever  gets  into  that  fort  controls  the  manhood  and  the 
nation,  and  upon  this  he  built  the  kingdom  of  Lacedamon.  Children 
were  the  property  of  the  Btate.  Mothers  bore  them  for  .Sparta. 
Almost  as  soon  as  they  could  run  they  were  handed  over  to  the  State 
to  be  trained  in  courage  and  in  the  arts  of  war.  They  ate  at  public 
tables  where  they  might  hear  from  their  warriors  and  statesmen 
notl)ing  but  stories  of  valour  and  words  of  wisdom.  They  were  inured 
to  hardships  for  the  glory  of  Sparta.  This  training  made  Sparta 
mistress  of  the  world  for  five  hundred  years.  Her  sons  were  sought 
by  surrounding  nations  as  rulers,  and  judges  and  generals.  To  be  a 
common  Spartan  was  to  be  a  king.  The  power  of  Lacedfemon  was 
broken  only  when  this  training  of  the  children  was  neglected.  We 
must  put  this  Bible,  which  has  made  the  English-speaking  people,  into 
the  characters  of  oiir  children  while  they  are  plastic.  Stick  to  the 
Book,  it  will  bring  us  through. 

I  am  i^rofoundly  convicted  that  the  wise  way  is  the  old  way  of 
reqiiiring  the  children  as  a  part  of  the  task  for  the  Sunday  school  to 
memorize  verses  of  Scripture.  Not  from  a  slip  of  paper  crumpled  in 
the  pocket  or  rolled  into  balls  before  the  hour  is  passed.  These  helps 
may  be  good  enough  for  the  teachers,  but  I  would  add  for  the  pupils 
verses  to  be  memorised  from  the  Book  itself,  not  from  a  prophecy  of 
transitoriness,  but  from  a  bound  copy  of  the  Testament  or  Bible  which 
the  child  shall  keep  and  own  and  honour,  and  which  shall  grow  into  a 
sacred  thing  to  be  honoured  in  all  the  years. 

Stories  and  illustrations  are  of  great  value  in  impressing  the  truth, 
but  they  cannot  be  substituted  for  the  word  of  God.  You  might  about 
as  well  substitute  a  circus  or  a  minstrel  performance  for  the  services  of 
the  sanctuary  and  expect  good  spiritual  results.  In  Bible  times  God 
insisted  on  teaching  the  children  and  the  household  His  word.  It  was 
to  be  written  on  the  doorposts  and  upon  their  harnesses.  It  was  to  be 
seen  and  studied  everywhere — this  meant  the  word  itself,  not  some 
weak  dilution  of  it  attenuated  through  human  weakness  and  conceit. 

o  2 


196  World's  Third 

The  word  is  spirit  and  is  spiritually  discerned.  "  The  word  of  God  is 
quick  and  powerful  and  sliarper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing 
even  to  tlie  dividinj^'  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit  and  of  the  joints  and 
marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart." 
(Heh.  iv.  12.)  This  is  the  power  quickened  hy  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
produces  genuine  conviction  for  sin,  without  wLich  salvation  is  neither 
sought  nor  attained.  For  Christ  came  to  call  not  the  righteous  but 
sinners  to  repentance.  The  man  who  went  down  to  his  house  justified 
was  he  who  cried  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  Our  logic  and 
arguments  and  rhetoric  are  like  the  tambourines  of  the  Salvation  Army, 
valuable  only  in  attracting  the  attention.  The  spirit  ajiplying  .the 
word  does  the  work. 

In  heathen  lands  the  first  work  is  to  teach  the  Word.  It  is  vain  to 
pray  God  to  convict  the  heathen  before  we  have  given  them  the  Word. 
If  God  could  do  it  unaided  it  would  have  been  done  ages  ago.  God 
does  His  part,  all  He  can,  till  we  do  our  part.  When  we  have  given 
the  Word,  then  the  Spirit  has  a  footing  in  the  soul.  Our  great 
business  is  to  teach  tlie  Word  of  God  to  the  children. 

For  results  this  must  be  done  in  early  youth.  Nine-tenths  of  our 
Church  membership  who  are  converted  were  converted  before  the 
twenties  were  reached. 

Our  personal  need  as  teachers  is  a  profound  conviction  of  tiie  truth 
of  the  Word  of  God.  The  universal  law  that  like  hegtts  like  holds 
here.  Conviction  is  produced  only  by  conviction.  This  is  why  a 
converted  ministry  is  necessary  to  the  production  of  a  converted 
membership.  Conviction  turns  less  on  the  absolute  truth  of  our 
teaching  than  upon  our  absolute  conviction  of  the  truth  of  our 
teachings.  When  we  are  ready  to  die  for  our  convictions  then  we 
weigh. 

They  do  ill  service  to  the  cause  of  God  who  emasculate  the  Bible  in 
the  name  of  Liberality. 

Marvellous  book  !  The  Bible,  like  God,  knows  no  compromise.  It 
has  fought  its  way,  sword  in  hand,  demanding  tlie  world  for  a  field 
and  the  human  heart  for  a  throne.  It  has  been  thrust  upon  at  every 
step,  and  by  its  very  conquests  it  demands  our  admiration  and 
dominates  our  convictions.  Go  about  this  City,  go  to  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  so  many  of  the  history-makers  are  resting,  or  go  to  that 
greater  field — Smithfield,  from  which  the  great  souls  ascended  in 
chariots  of  fire — read  the  inscriptions,  study  the  monuments,  every- 
where you  shall  find  that  the  great  i)lace3  in  human  veneration  are 
given  to  the  great  conquerors  in  some  field.  Measure  this  Book  by 
the  same  law.  Turn  over  its  sacred  leaves.  Here  and  there  you  find 
places  where  the  sword  of  persecution  has  pierced  it,  or  where  the 
passion  of  bigotry  has  marred  it,  or  where  charred  stakes  have  been 
driven,  and  blazing  faggots  have  been  heaped  together.  On  almost 
every  page  you  will  find  passages  for  which  seme  heroic  souls  have 
dared  to  die.  Would  you  see  its  monument,  look  about  you,  behold  the 
civilised  world.    It  commands  our  most  profound  conviction. 


Sunday  Scliool  Convention.  197 

It  has  conquered  on  every  field.  In  every  engagement  it  has  come 
off  more  than  conqueror.  Every  science  at  first  has  assailed  it.  In 
our  South  land  is  said  to  be  a  breed  of  bloodhounds  of  so  fierce  a  nature 
that  when  they  are  born  they  snap  at  their  mother ;  but  as  soon  as 
they  get  their  eyes  open  they  follow  gladly  after  her ;  so  every  science, 
when  it  is  first  born,  snaps  at  Christianity,  but  as  soon  as  it  gets  its 
eyes  open  it  runs  gladly  in  her  service. 

Even  the  last  snap  from  the  last  science,  higher  criticism,  is  passing 
by,  not  only  harmlessly,  but  also  even  heli^fully.  The  antiquarian 
inquiries  it  has  inspired  have  illustrated  the  wonderful  truth  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  spade  of  the  antiquarian  has  only  exposed  to  the 
gaze  of  modern  scholarship  the  deep  foundations  of  the  sure  word 
of  God. 

Let  me  illustrate  how  we  are  called  upon — not  to  purchase  a  dis- 
honourable peace  of  a  cowardly  surrender  of  the  truth,  but  rather  to 
meet  them  in  their  assaults  and  defend  the  supernatural  Word  and 
Revelation  of  God. 

Once  Voltaire  shouted  out  to  the  timid  Christians,  "  What  kind  of  a 
God  have  you?  He  has  light  three  whole  days  before  there  was  any 
sun  or  moon  to  give  it."  But  before  poor  old  Voltaire  had  been  dead 
and  lost  for  a  century,  science  deserted  him  and  went  over  to  Moses, 
saying,  "  First,  difl'used  light."  Come  what  may,  stick  to  the  Old 
Book,  it  will  bring  you  through. 

The  Book  has  been  condemned  on  the  ground  that  there  was  no 
one  alile  to  write  or  even  read  such  books  in  the  age  of  Moses.  But 
the  spade  has  uncovered  a  vast  and  ancient  civilisation.  The  vast 
libraries  at  Tel-el  Amarna,  now  in  yonder  British  Museum,  reveal  a 
civilisation  covering  Bible  lands  and  the  vast  empire  of  Babyhmia, 
extending  back  two  thousand  years  before  Abraham.  The  majestic 
literature  of  the  Old  Testament  is  not  an  isolated  leaf  drifting  on 
chance  currents,  but  it  is  supported  by  a  vast  literature ;  we  suddenly 
awaken  to  the  fact  that  this  civilisation  is  recognised  in  the  Old 
Testament.  In  Judges  v.  14,  we  have  "  the  pen  of  the  writer."  In 
Joshua  XV.  49,  we  have  "  City  of  instruction,"  also  "  The  City  of 
Books"  in  Joshua.  Every  new  discovery  only  strengthens  the  claim 
of  the  Bible.     Stick  to  the  Book,  it  will  save  you. 

Melchisedek  was  laughed  out  of  court  as  an  impossibility  as  Priest 
and  King.  But  these  old  clay  volumes  bring  out  his  very  name  and 
double  office  as  King  and  Priest  of  the  High  God,  whose  temple  is 
on  Mount  Moriah.  Stick  to  the  Book.  This  new  science,  like  all 
the  old  ones,  will  gladly  run  in  the  service  of  the  Book. 

But  I  will  make  no  defence,  time  will  not  permit  and  this  is  not 
the  place.  The  Bible  will  take  care  of  itself,  and  of  us  too  as  long  ag 
we  cling  to  it. 

Marvellous  Book !  Itself  also  a  subject  of  a  parallel  of  every 
miracle  and  deliverance  recorded  in  its  pages.  Proscribed  and  im- 
prisoned, the  angel  of  deliverance  illumined  the  darkness,  stripped  oflf 
the  shackles  and  awed  into  conscious  obedience  tlie  self-opening 


198  World's  Third 

doors.  Exiled,  it  l)as  created  a  new  kingdom  and  shifted  the  centre 
and  balance  of  power.  Carried  away  captive,  it  has  broken  down 
rival  altars  and  overthrown  false  gods  till  the  right  of  way  has  been 
accorded  to  it  by  friend  and  foe.  Sold  into  bondage  by  false  brethren, 
it  has  captured  the  hearts  of  its  masters  and  ascended  the  throne  of 
dominion.  Driven  into  the  sea,  it  has  gone  over  drysliod,  seeing  its 
enemies  overwhelmed  in  the  flood  and  itself  singing  the  glad  song  of 
deliverance.  Burned  on  the  public  square  by  the  public  executioner, 
it  has  risen  sphynx-like  and  floated  away  in  triumph,  waving  the 
smoke  of  its  own  funeral  pyre  as  a  flag  of  victory.  Scourged  from 
city  to  city,  it  has  gone  through  the  capitals  of  the  civilised  world, 
leaving  behind  it  a  trail  of  light  attesting  its  divine  autlioiity.  Cast 
into  a  icpei's  pest-house,  it  has  purified  the  scales  of  contagion,  restored 
the  rosy  skin  of  smiling  infancy,  quickened  the  energies  of  romping 
yonth  and  recreated  the  sinews  of  heroic  manhood.  Betrayed  by  a 
kiss,  it  has  stood  erect  in  the  calm  majesty  of  eternity,  amid  the 
swarming  minions  of  its  enemies.  Nailed  to  a  felon's  cross,  it  has 
illumined  the  darkness  by  the  radiance  of  its  own  glory,  and  trans- 
formed the  summit  of  sacrifice  into  a  throne  of  universal  judgment. 
Sealed  into  the  gloom  of  a  sepulchre,  it  has  come  forth  with  the 
echoing  footsteps  of  Almighty  God,  rising  to  dominion  over  all  intel- 
ligence. Marvellous  Book !  Full  of  divine  life  and  power !  No 
one  can  touch  even  the  hem  of  its  garment  without  being  healed.  No 
one  can  come  near  enough  even  to  stone  it  without  being  blessed.  It 
shall  rise  in  power  and  beauty  as  long  as  there  remains  one  sinner 
needing  salvation,  or  one  saint  hoping  for  heaven. 

After  the  singing  by  tlie  choir  of  a  chorus  "  We  rock  away,"  the 
following  paper  on  "  Teaching "  was  read  by  the  Kev,  George 
Parkin,  M.A.,  B.D. 

TEACHING. 
By  the  Rev.  George  Parkin,  B.D.  (Manchester'). 

Successful  teaching  is  marked  by  lofty  truth,  a  clear  way  of 
presenting  it,  and  love  for  those  to  whom  it  is  presented. 

It  is  marked  by  lofty  truth.  I  have  not  much  faith  in  the  attempts 
to  build  up  character  apart  from  truth.  To  build  without  mortar  is 
sorry  work ;  but  to  build  without  truth  is  like  building  without  bricks 
or  stone.  Such  attempts  are  doomed  to  failure.  Nor  have  I  much 
confidence  in  the  judgment  of  those  men  who  persist  in  emphasising 
doubts  and  negations.  Every  thoughtful  man  is  sure  to  have  doubts, 
but  if  he  be  prudent  he  will  keep  them  in  the  background.  Doubts 
never  convince  ;  negations  never  comfort.  It  is  the  positive  elements 
in  teaching  which  give  it  power. 

When  Slary  and  Martha  bemoaned  tiie  loss  of  their  brother,  Christ 
did  not  meet  them  with  either  a  doubt  or  a  negation,  but  said,  "  Your 


Simdatj  School  Convention.  199 

brotlicr  sliall  rise  again,"  and  that  positive  statement  calmed  the 
breasts  of  the  troubled  sisters. 

The  times  in  which  we  live  render  it  necessary  for  us  to  place  before 
our  scholars  positive  views  of  truth.  Our  age  is  one  of  transition. 
There  is  a  spirit  of  inquiry  among  us,  born  of  the  scientific  discoveries 
and  of  the  advance  in  intelligence  which  have  marked  the  nineteenth 
century ;  and  as  this  spirit  has  caused  us  to  give  up  some  opinions 
and  to  modify  others,  some  good  men  regard  it  with  suspicion  and 
alarm  and  do  theu-  best  to  opijose  it.  In  my  judgment  such  conduct 
is  unwise.  There  is  an  irreverent  criticism  among  us — one  which,  if  it 
fears  God,  certainly  does  not  respect  man,  but  which  treats  symbols  of 
faith  that  are  venerable  with  years,  and  that  have  fed  the  piety  and 
moulded  the  life  of  some  of  tlie  brightest  spirits  before  the  throne  as 
if  they  were  common  things ;  with  that  criticism  we  have  no  sympathy, 
but  are  its  sworn  foes.  But  criticism,  born  of  a  desire  to  know  the 
truth,  and  represented  by  some  of  the  finest  and  most  devout  minds  of 
our  age,  is  reverent,  and  like  the  wise  men  from  the  East  it  is  on  its 
knees  before  Christ.  That  is  its  proper  attitude,  for  whosoever  would 
enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  the  Truth  must  be  humble,  inquiring,  and 
willing  to  be  taught. 

But  ours  is  not  the  only  age  of  transition  which  the  world  has  seen, 
and  if  we  only  look  at  another  for  a  moment  I  think  we  shall  see  that 
we  have  no  need  to  fear  for  the  truth.  Great  as  is  the  intellectual 
ferment  of  the  nineteenth  century,  that  of  the  first  was  even  greater. 
For  fifteen  centuries  Judaism  had  witnessed  for  God  in  the  world,  and 
during  those  centuries  it  had  given  birth  to  prophets  and  poets  whose 
visions  and  songs  are  amongst  our  most  sacred  treasures ;  but  a  time 
came  when  it  could  no  longer  represent  the  thought  and  feeling  of 
jnen,  and  then  it  had  to  give  place  to  Christianity.  But  in  the  change 
nothing  was  lost  that  was  worth  preserving.  The  best  elements  in 
Judaism  were  not  its  sacrifices,  its  priesthood,  its  incense,  its  ornate 
ritual,  but  the  law,  the  prophets,  the  psalms,  and  these  found  a  place 
in  the  new  system.  They  form  part  of  our  Bible,  and  are  as  authori- 
tative in  our  churches  as  ever  they  were  in  Jewish  synagogues,  nor 
will  any  of  us  say  that  they  have  suffered  loss  by  being  put  alongside 
the  writings  of  the  Evangelists  and  the  letters  of  the  Apostles.  What 
is  good  and  true  and  beautiful  will  never  perish.  It  may  change  its 
forms,  but  liberated  from  the  national  and  the  fleeting  it  will  enter 
into  other  and  fairer  combinations,  so  you  need  not  tremble  for  the 
Truth. 

The  late  Mr.  Spurgeon  once  said  that  when  he  found  men  alarmed 
for  the  truth,  and  heard  them  talk  of  writing  in  defence  of  it,  that  he 
was  reminded  of  those  who  were  concerned  about  the  dignity  of  the 
British  lion  and  were  anxious  to  protect  it.  If  you  will  open  the  cage 
door  and  let  the  British  lion  walk  out  he  will  protect  himself.  And 
if  the  Bible  be  what  we  say  and  believe  it  is,  you  need  not  fear  for  it, 
it  can  take  care  of  itself. 

What  truths  therefore  should  we  place  before  them  to  save  them 


200  World's  Third 

finm  drifting?  Fortunately,  St.  Paul's  conduct  towards  the 
Corinthians  lias  answered  this  question  for  us.  "I  delivered  untf) 
you,"  he  says,  "  lirst  of  all  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according 
to  the  Scriptures.  And  tliat  He  was  buried,  and  that  He  rose  agaiu 
the  third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures."  The  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  were  not  only  first  in  Paul's  preaching  in  the  order  of 
time,  but  first  in  importance  ;  and  you  will  notice  that  in  the  passage 
I  have  quoted,  Paul  lays  emphasis  on  the  sacrificial  clement  in  Christ's 
death.  There  are  other  elements  in  that  death,  but  this  is  the  one 
that  takes  the  sting  out  of  the  conscience.  Call  attention  to  as  many 
others  as  you  like,  but  emphasise  this — Christ  died  for  our  sins.  And 
as  the  death  of  Jesus  gives  peace,  so  His  resurrection  gives  hope.  It 
not  only  brings  life  and  immortality  to  light,  but  links  our  life  to  His. 
"  Because  He  lives,  we  shall  live  also." 

The  next  element  we  shall  specify  in  successful  teaching  is  a  clear 
way  of  presenting  truth.  We  have  all  felt  that  a  truth  fitly  spoken 
is — I  will  not  say  like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver,  for  those 
things  do  not  come  our  way,  but — like  golden  oranges  surrounded  by 
silver  blossoms,  which  always  please,  and  having  been  once  seen  can 
never  be  forgotten.  To  obtain  this  clearness  we  must  look  at  truth 
for  ourselves,  and  the  calmer  our  eye  and  the  purer  our  heart  the 
clearer  will  be  our  vision.  Unless  we  see  a  truth  clearly  we  cannot 
well  make  it  clear  to  others.  I  once  knew  a  man  of  great  gifts,  of 
great  force  of  character,  and  of  great  eccentricity,  who  was  preaching 
at  the  opening  of  a  church,  and  who  found  himself — as  ministers 
occasionally  do — not  very  well  prepared,  and  as  a  consequence  he  was 
having  what  is  known  in  ministerial  circles  as  a  hard  time.  After 
trying  to  put  a  certain  truth  before  his  hearers  and  not  succeeding, 
he  said :  "  Is  that  clear  to  you '?  For  I  confess  that  if  it  be  clear 
to  you  it  is  not  to  me."  I  need  scarcely  add  that  the  truth  he  was 
trying  to  enforce  was  not  clear  to  his  hearers. 

Many  things  have  been  done  of  late  to  aid  us  in  putting  truth 
clearly  before  our  scholars,  and  among  the  many  I  wish  to  mention 
the  course  of  study  drawn  up  by  the  committee  which  gives  us  our 
international  lessons.  I  hold  no  brief  for  that  committee,  but  I  admire 
the  way  in  which  it  seeks  to  communicate  truth.  Only  seldom  does 
a  lesson  deal  with  truth  in  the  abstract ;  nearly  every  one  associates 
it  with  the  life  of  some  man,  and  that  committee  puts  before  us,  in 
the  story  of  one  whom  we  call  Lord,  a  Gospel  that  wc  may  hear 
truth  in  what  Christ  says,  and  see  it  in  what  He  does.  This  line  of 
study  enables  us  lo  get  a  clear  view  of  the  truth,  and  having  got  the 
picture  we  can  hold  it  up  before  our  scholars.  If  we  cannot  say  much 
about  it,  we  can  hold  it  up  and  it  will  shine  with  its  own  light  and 
attract  with  its  own  beauty. 

The  truth  we  teach  also  acquires  power  from  our  believing  it.  It 
is  one  thing  to  know  a  truth  but  another  to  believe  it,  and  it  is  of 
belief  that  feeling  is  born.  You  may  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men 
{ind  of  angels,  but  unless  you  believe  what  you  teach  you  are  but 


Sunday  School  Convention.  201 

sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals.  Furthermore,  feeling  is  con- 
tagious, so  if  we  believe  the  truth,  the  scholars  to  whom  we  speak  will 
feel  it  too. 

But  most  important  of  all  in  giving  power  to  the  truth  is  the  Holy- 
Ghost.  The  Word  is  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  when  wielded  by 
the  .Spirit  it  is  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds,  whether 
they  be  in  the  heart  of  a  boy  or  a  man  or  the  customs  of  society.  God 
has  not  given  to  every  man  the  eye  that  can  see  truth  in  everything, 
and  even  the  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil,  but  He  does  give  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  tiiem  that  ask  Him. 

What  an  instructive  instance  we  have  of  prayer  for  the  Spirit  at 
the  opening  of  Milton's  great  poem  !  There  the  man  of  ripe  culture, 
of  unquestioned  genius,  of  imperial  imagination,  prays — 

"  Do  Tliou,  0  Spirit,  that  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples  the  upright  heart  and  pure, 
Instruct  me,  for  Thou  knovvest  .... 

What  in  me  is  dark 
Illumine,  what  is  low  raise  and  support ; 
That  to  the  height  of  this  great  argument 
I  may  assert  the  Eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men." 

As  he  needed  the  Spirit  for  his  work  so  do  we  for  ours. 

The  last  element  I  shall  mention  in  successful  teaching  is  love  for 
the  children.  This  is  the  key  which  opens  both  the  young  and  the 
adult  heart ;  and  if  we  get  the  hearts  of  our  scholars,  we  are  sure  to 
succeed.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  there  is  a  word-picture  which 
shows  us  the  power  of  sympathy  and  the  estimate  the  Lord  forms  of 
it.  Saul  of  Tarsus  has  reached  a  critical  period  in  life.  The  Lord 
Jesus  robed  in  brightness  has  appeared  and  spoken  to  him,  and  that 
word  has  come  into  collision  with  many  of  the  young  man's  beliefs  and 
opinions.  He  wishes  to  be  a  Uue  man — true  to  all  that  was  right  and 
good  in  his  past  training,  and  true  to  the  new  light  which  has  just 
dawned  on  his  mind,  and  as  he  stands  there  bewildered,  he  prays, 
"Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  do?"  The  Lord  did  not  send  him 
to  Peter  or  James  or  any  of  the  other  Apostles,  but  to  an  obscure  man 
named  Ananias.  But  though  the  man  was  obscure,  and  not  able  to 
grapple  with  Saul's  difficulties  from  an  intellectual  standpoint,  yet  he 
had  one  qualification  which  eminently  fitted  him  for  dealing  with  that 
y(jung  man.  His  qualification  reveals  itself  through  the  first  word  that 
he  uttered  when  he  saw  the  young  man — Brother  Saul.  I  do  not  think 
that  at  that  time  either  Peter  or  John  or  James  would  have  called 
Saul  a  brother.  They  would  have  thought  of  the  cruelty  of  his  wrath, 
of  the  part  that  he  took  in  the  condemnation  and  death  of  Stephen,  of 
how  he  had  gone  to  Damascus  on  the  same  murderous  errand  ;  but  if 
Ananias  thought  of  them,  the  greatness  of  his  sympathy  for  a  man 
struggling  for  the  light  rose  above  them,  and  he  called  that  man  a 
brother.    That  single  word  won  Saul's  confidence,  and  led  him  to 


202  WorhVs  Third 

unbosom  liimself  to  tho  kindly  man.  And  what  a  difference  tlierc  was 
between  tlio  tw(i  men  !  Tlic  younger  was  gifted,  cultured,  awake  to 
the  importance  of  life,  full  of  lofty  aspirations,  and  the  light  shining 
in  his  eye  "tiiat  never  sh^nc  on  land  or  sea  ;"  the  elder  lacked  both 
gifts  and  culture,  but  because  he  had  sympathy  he  was  made  a  blessiug 
to  the  other.  Fellow-teachers,  we  cannot  rival  Paul  in  gifts,  but  ^o 
may  equal  Ananias  in  sympathy,  and  sympathy  will  give  us  power 
and  success. 

The  choir  then  sang  the  Children's  March,  "  Marching  beneath  tho 
Banner,"  during  the  singing  of  which  the  collection  was  taken.  Tho 
Chairman  then  said  :  Now  we  are  to  have  the  little  child  set  in 
the  midst.  I  call  upon  Professor  H.  M.  Hamill  to  give  us  his  paper 
on  "  The  Child." 

THE   CHILD. 

By  Prof.  Hamill  (Illinois). 

There  is  a  story  to  tiie  effect  that  an  embassy  to  the  great  Athenian 
General,  Themistocles,  found  him  in  a  somewhat  undignified  attitude 
playing  with  his  little  boy  of  five.  The  embassy  greeted  him  as 
the  ruler  of  Greece.  The  answer  of  Themistocles  carries  with  it  a 
philosophy  that  is  worthy  of  the  attention  of  i^unday  school  workers, 
"  You  hail  me,"  he  said,  "  as  chief  of  Greece.  It  is  true  that  I 
rule  Athens,  and  Athens  rules  Greece.  But  my  wife  rules  me,  and 
this  little  boy  rules  her.  In  him  therefore  recognise  the  ruler  of  the 
State." 

I  believe  sincerely  in  the  conversion  of  the  little  child  (hear,  hear). 
I  think  your  poet  Wordsworth  is  true  to  Christianity  as  well  as  to 
experience  when  he  sings  that  "  Heaven  lies  about  us  in  our  infancy." 
The  little  child,  while  the  dew  of  Heaven  yet  lingers  on  its  brow,  is 
near  the  Kingdom  of  God.  And  yet  I  believe  in  the  conversion  of  the 
child.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  child  enters  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
by  any  other  gate  than  that  of  acceptance  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  of 
Jesus  Christ.  "  Behold  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  hath  my 
mother  conceived  me,"  is  the  voice  of  the  Old  Testament.  "  "We  are 
by  nature  the  children  of  wrath,"  is  the  voice  of  the  New  Testament. 
I  have  no  sympathy  with  mere  educational  schemes  that  seek  to 
induct  the  child  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  without  the  direct  and 
specific  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  on  the  heart. 

Bishop  Taylor  once  told  me  how  he  had  laboured  for  many  years 
trying  to  save  the  adult  African,  and  how  after  much  reading  and 
study  of  the  book  of  Romans  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must 
turn  about  in  his  missionary  method,  and  devote  his  attention  in  the 
first  place  to  the  children.  Accordingly,  while  he  still  preached  to 
adults,  he  has  based  the  missionary  operations  of  recent  years  on  a 
belief  in  the  supreme  importance  of  fixing  the  Gospel  in  the  sensitive 
conscience  of  the  child.  God's  Holy  Spirit  docs  indeed  make  sensitive 
the  hearts  of  our  children. 


Sunday  School  Convention,  203 

I  believe  in  the  transference  of  the  finest  educational  methods  from 
the  secular  to  the  Sunday  schools.  I  rejoice  that  both  in  America 
and  in  England  more  and  more  emphasis  is  being  put  iipon  the  fact 
that  the  teaching  of  the  Word  of  God  demands  men's  best  talents  and 
their  highest  wisdom.  There  is  no  premium  upon  wilful  ignorance 
or  wilful  folly. 

But  while  this  is  true,  it  must  be  remembered  that  after  all  the 
primary  aim  of  the  Sunday  school  is  not  so  much  educational  as  it  is 
evangelistic.  (Cheers.)  God  jiermits  us  to  encompass  the  child  with 
the  great  forces  that  centre  in  and  about  the  Sabbath  school  in  order 
that  we  may  win  the  souls  of  the  children.  What  are  these  forces? 
In  the  first  place  there  is  the  Word  of  God;  then  there  is  that  pearl 
of  days,  the  Ciiristian  Sabbath ;  again  there  is  that  holy  place,  the 
temple  of  our  Lord ;  and,  finally,  there  is  the  personality  of  the  godly 
man  or  woman  incarnating  God's  word.  These  are  the  forces  that 
come  together  for  the  saving  of  our  children. 

On  the  educational  side  I  would  suggest  that  there  should  be  a 
recurrence,  in  the  midst  of  our  new  educational  work,  to  the  old 
practice  already  alluded  to  by  Bishop  Fowler — the  memorizing  of  the 
Word  of  God.  I  have  little  sympathy  with  that  educational  theory 
that  would  debar  the  child  from  storing  the  memory  with  things  that 
for  the  time  being  may  not  be  understood.  I  believe  in  the  erection 
for  our  children  of  the  highest  standards  of  life,  and  those  standards 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Bible.  I  remember  how  my  old  Scotch  father, 
of  whom  I  can  never  think  except  with  reverent  thankfulness,  set 
before  mo  as  a  child  the  highest  ideals  that  came  from  the  Word 
of  God. 

I  recently  stood  bare-headed  before  the  statue  of  your  great  General 
Gordon,  and  I  recalled  the  fact  that  the  nobility  of  his  character  was 
in  a  great  measure  the  result  of  his  constant  study  of  the  Word  of 
God.  Dewey,  who  sailed  into  Manila  Bay  (cheers),  was  nourished 
by  such  stories  as  those  of  Gideon  and  Joshua.  And  yet  sometimes 
men  object — foolishly  and  unreasonably,  it  seems  to  me — to  those 
brilliant  series  of  international  lessons  taken  from  the  Old  Testament. 
Why,  they  are  as  iron  in  the  blood.    (Cheers.) 

Lastly,  I  believe  in  the  personality  of  the  Sunday  school  teaclier. 
I  recently  went  back  to  tlie  home  of  my  boyhood.  The  place  seemed 
entirely  changed.  The  familiar  trees  had  been  cut  down.  The 
familiar  names  of  my  old  companions  were  gone.  Then  I  went  into 
the  sanctuary,  and  sitting  in  the  place  where  I  had  been  wont  to 
sit  as  a  Sunday  scholar,  I  recalled  the  well-remembered  face  of  my 
old  teacher;  I  recalled  his  loving  greeting  and  cordial  handclasp. 
He  was  a  poor  uncultured  man ;  but  from  his  rough  face  there  shone 
"  a  light  that  never  was  on  land  or  sea."  And  then,  as  I  thought  of 
him,  I  realised  that,  next  to  my  father  and  mother,  I  owed  all  that  had 
come  to  me  of  sweetness  and  strength  in  this  life  to  the  personality 
of  my  old  teacher.     (Loud  cheers.) 


204  World's  Third 

The  Ecv.  Canon  Fleming,  B.D.,  was  then  called  upon  to  deliver  an 
address  on  the  same  subject : — 

When  I  read  in  the  Times  newspaper  this  morning  some  of  tho 
admirable  words  of  your  President,  Lord  Northampton,  yesterday,  and 
learned  from  them  that  this  vast  Convention,  with  its  2300  delegates 
from  all  parts  of  the  Christian  world,  represented  2,500,000  Sunday 
scliool  teachers  and  25,000,000  Sunday  scliool  scholars,  I  thought  hero 
then  there  is  at  work  in  the  Cliurch  of  Christ  an  army  larger  than 
the  British  army,  larger  than  the  American  and  Spanish  armies  put 
together.  And  I  think  because  we  have  such  great  spiritual  forces  as 
these  at  work  in  all  the  churches,  we  may  reasonably  hope  and  pray 
that  arbitration  among  mitinns  may  yet  take  tlie  place  of  ghastly 
war.     (Loud  clieers.) 

And  then  it  might  be  asked,  looking  at  this  vast  army — fi>r  you 
must  carry  your  thoughts  all  over  the  world — When  did  this  great 
institution  begin?  It  begnn  from  the  lips  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Head  of  His  Church,  wlicu  He  gave  tiiat  first  great  commission — 
"  Feed  My  lambs."  It  slumbered  too  long  in  the  bnsom  of  this  world  ; 
but  it  was  those  words  t'lat  woke  up  the  heart  of  John  Pounds  and 
Kobert  Eaikes;  and  the  spirit  of  them  has  spread  now  to  all  lands, 
from  churcli  to  churcli  and  from  country  to  country;  and  I  think  one 
of  the  must  joyful  thoughts  that  we  shall  take  away  from  this  great 
Convention  when  it  breaks  up  will  be  that  Sunday  schools  are  more 
universal,  more  powerful,  and  more  efficient  than  tbey  ever  were 
before.    (Cheers.) 

I  also  rejoiced  to  read  those  words  of  Lord  Northampton's,  that 
appeared  to  me  like  a  key-note  of  such  a  Convention  as  this:  "Secta- 
rianism is  absent  from  a  platform  where  we  are  united  in  one  cause." 
(Cheers.)  It  is  very  refreshing  to  some  of  us  in  these  days  to  be  able 
to  feel  that  if  we  arc  distinct  like  the  billows,  we  can  be  one  like 
the  sea. 

17(6  Child  is  the  subject  on  which  I  have  been  asked  to  say  a  few 
words.  It  is  vety  easy  to  say  that  in  all  our  schools  the  children  arc 
entrusted  to  our  care ;  but  it  is  more  solemn  to  remember  that  each 
child  is  an  immortal  soul.  No  wealth,  no  treasure  in  this  world  can 
represent  the  value  of  a  single  child;  no  calculator  has  ever  gauged 
the  value  of  one  little  child.  Dr.  Young  has  said :  "  Know'st  thou  tho 
value  of  a  soul  immortal  ?  Were  the  world  ten  th(  )usand  worlds,  one 
soul  outweiglis  them  all."  While  we  desire  to  do  all  we  can  for  the 
memory,  the  judgment,  the  understanding  of  our  children,  we  must 
never  forget  that  it  is  their  immortal  soul  that  allies  them  to  Gtid 
Himself. 

There  never  was  such  a  lovingly,  tenderly  susceptible  thing  in  the 
world  as  the  mind  and  heart  and  soul  of  a  little  cluld.  Susceptible, 
indeed,  to  much  of  evil — that  is  one  of  cnir  great  difficulties — but  also 
susceptible  to  everything  tliat  is  good,  And  therefore  you  and  I  are 
working  on  a  material  that  is  about  the  most  encouraging  and  splendid 


Sunday  ScJioot  Convention.  205 

that  any  workman  ever  had.  If  you  work  upon  marble  or  brass  or 
stone  it  will  crumble  away,  and  your  work  will  perish ;  but  when  you 
work  on  the  mind,  heart,  and  will,  you  are  engraving  upon  it  that 
which  will  live  and  last  for  ever. 

If  you  ask  what  is  the  child,  I  should  say  that  in  tliese  modern  days 
the  answer  is  twofold :  the  child  is  the  head  of  society,  and  the  child 
is  the  head  of  the  church.  We  know  that  one  of  these  days,  when  you 
and  I  have  gone,  the  children  will  take  our  places.  They  will  be  the 
future  statesmen,  authors,  artisans,  mechanics.  They  will  occupy  the 
positions  that  are  occupied  to-day  by  all  the  great  men,  all  the  good 
men  in  every  land.  They  will  stand  in  our  places  as  fathers,  mothers, 
heads  of  families.  And  I  should  like  to  ask,  who  would  say  for  one 
moment  that  an  ignorant  artisan  would  be  better  than  an  intelligent 
one  ;  that  a  dishonest  tradesman  would  be  better  than  an  honest  one  ;  a 
drunken  workman  better  than  a  sober  one  ?  That  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  we  feel  that  we  are  teaching  the  only  thing  that  can  help  to  make 
the  community  of  every  nation  what  it  ought  to  be ;  becaiuse  there  is  a 
vast  restraining,  softening,  elevating  influence  in  the  Christianity  that 
is  being  taught  in  all  our  churches  and  in  all  our  schools,  though  wo 
do  not  now  see  the  fruit  of  it.  "  One  soweth  and  another  reapeth."  I 
have  heard  good  Lord  Shaftesbury  (cheers)  say  that  he  believed  that 
in  very  dangerous  days  of  ignorance,  and  degradation,  and  drunkenness 
in  tills  England  of  ours,  the  Ragged  Schools  had  saved  us  perhaps 
from  a  revolution,  because  there  is  an  indirect  power  and  influence  in 
Christianity  which  no  one  can  gauge,  and  no  one  can  possibly  over- 
estimate. You  see  what  a  work  we  have  in  hand  when  we  take  hold 
of  the  cliild  as  the  future  head  of  society !  I  would  we  might  be 
doing  all  that  is  possible  to  educate  good  men  and  Christian  citizens 
for  the  future  of  our  land. 

Then  I  have  said  that  the  child  is  the  head  of  the  Church.  The 
child  may  become  "  a  burning  and  a  shining  light."  If  it  be  inquired 
at  the  last  day — I  know  not  whether  it  will— how  the  child  came  into 
the  fold,  I  feel  sure  it  will  be  answered  in  many  cases,  not  through  this 
church,  or  this  college,  or  this  minister,  but  through  the  Sunday 
school.     (Cheers.) 

How  are  we  to  discharge  our  duty  towards  the  child?  Our  ways 
are  made  much  easier  through  the  work  of  those  who  have  gone  before. 
The  pioneers  in  Sunday  school  work  had  to  teach  mechanical  reading  ; 
if  they  had  not  done  so,  large  numbers  of  the  children  would  never 
have  learned  to  read  at  all.  Happily  this  is  done  for  us  elsewhere 
than  in  the  Sunday  school.  We  have  a  great  advantage,  therefore, 
over  those  good  pioneers  who  made  the  way  for  us  so  much  easier. 
We  must  try  through  that  key  of  knowledge  to  opan  to  the  children 
all  the  treasures  they  need,  beginning  with  that  treasure  of  all  others, 
the  Word  of  God.  We  do  not  meet  in  our  Sunday  schools  in  order  to 
teach  the  children  scholarship  or  secular  knowledge,  but  religious 
knowledge.  In  the  few  golden  hours  we  have  at  our  disposal,  we  have 
barely  time  to  try  and  lay  upon  their  hearts  the  rich,  warm,  simple 


20G  World's  Third 

and  saving"  trutliB  of  tlic  Gospel.  I  have  never  been  so  foolish  as  to 
say  there  can  be  no  education  without  religion,  but  I  do  say  there 
can  be  no  safe,  sound,  and  complete  education  without  religion. 
(Cheers.) 

Then  we  have  in  these  days  such  a  wcultli  of  good  books  to  help  us 
all.  I  speak  as  one  of  the  honorary  secretaries  of  the  lleligious  Tract 
Society — a  position  I  have  occupied  for  many  years,  having  formerly 
for  my  colleague  the  revered  Dr.  ytoughton,  and  now  the  gifted 
Dr.  Monro  Gibson.  Cluirles  Kingsley  said  :  "  We  ought  to  reverence 
a  good  book."  I  believe  the  lleligious  Tract  Society  with  prayer  and 
care  desires  to  send  forth  only  good  Ijooks — not  goody-goody  books, 
but  a  healthy,  fine  toned,  and  above  all  pure  Christian  literature,  <o 
stem  all  the  poison  that  is  coming  forth,  alas  !  from  the  printing  press 
of  to-day.  God  bless  the  printing  press,  and  keep  it  from  this  poison. 
Every  nation  will  derive  more  and  more  power  from  its  literature. 
And  there  are  none  who  can  do  a  wider  work  in  trying  to  stem  tho 
How  of  harmful  literature  and  promote  a  pure  and  healthy  literature 
in  the  homes  of  the  young  than  all  our  Sunday  school  teachers.  And 
the  Keligious  Tract  Society  has  of  late  years  devoted  its  special 
attention  to  the  literature  that  we  put  forth  tor  the  young. 

And  I  would  echo  those  words  I  heard  almost  as  I  entered  this 
evening.  (I  am  sorry  I  have  not  been  able  to  be  present  during  the 
whole  of  the  meeting,  because  I  have  been  down  in  Kent  to-day  with 
my  own  schools,  of  1080  scholars,  and  I  left  them  to  get  here  in  time 
to  speak  a  few  words.)  I  heard  as  I  came  in  that  reference  to  the 
need  for  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  one  of  tliose  points  we  should  carry 
deep  in  our  hearts  from  every  Convention.  We  have  depended  too 
much  upon  ourselves,  too  little  upon  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God. 
There  is  a  splendid  prophecy  in  the  lx)ok  of  Zechariah.  Zerubbabel 
was  sent  to  l)uild  the  Temple.  Yours  is  a  harder  task  than  his.  He 
had  only  to  build  a  temple  of  stone  ;  you  have  to  build  a  Christian 
cliaracter.  When  Zerubbabel  shrank  from  all  his  difficulties,  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  sent  to  help  him  said  :  "  This  is  the  word  of  the 
Lord  unto  Zeru}il)a))el,  saying.  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my 
Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  And  so,  Christian  friends,  when  we 
look  at  this  subject — the  cliild — and,  thinking  of  all  our  difficulties 
and  shortcomings,  are  ready  to  ask :  "  Wlio  is  sufficient  for  these 
things?  "  let  us  rememlier  these  words,  spoken  thousands  of  years  ago 
to  Zerubl)abel  by  God  Himself :  "  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by 
My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."     (Ciieers.) 

Tiie  meeting  closed  with  the  singing  of  the  hymn  "  Abide  with  me," 
followed  by  the  Benediction,  pronounced  by  Bishop  Fowler. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  207 


FOURTH  DAY— TENTH  SESSION. 

FiuuAY,  15tii  July. 

The  Tenth  Session  held  on  Friday  morning  at  tlie  City  Temple  was 
opened  by  a  service  of  praise  and  prayer,  conducted  by  the 
Eev.  Alfred  Rowland,  LL.B.,  B.A.,  Chairman  of  the  Congregational 
Union  of  England  and  Wales.  The  hymn  "  I  my  Ebenezer  raise  " 
was  then  sung,  and  the  Rev.  George  Hawker  led  the  meeting  in 
prayer. 

Prospects  of  Peace. 

The  Hon.  S.  H.  Blake  (one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Conven- 
tion) took  the  chair  at  the  morning  session  on  Friday,  which  was 
held  at  the  City  Temple.  He  said  : — One  word,  my  Christian  friends, 
before  we  enter  on  the  duties  of  the  session. 

"  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way 
His  wonders  to  perform." 

There  must  be  a  feeling  of  joy  in  all  hearts,  and  it  looks  as  if  God 
had  sent  down  His  angel  of  peace  and  was  about  to  close  the  war.* 

We  have  had  a  good  deal  as  to  Sunday  school  organisation.  We  have 
had  a  great  deal  about  the  Bible — we  never  can  have  too  much  about 
it — but  it  is  well  that  we  should  ever  remember  that  it  is  all  cold  and 
dead  and  lifeless  without  the  power  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  and  we  are 
very  rejoiced  on  this  morning  that  we  are  to  have  a  discussion  on  that 
great  force  and  power  to  every  Sunday  school  teacher.  I  rejoice  that 
Mr.  Meyer  is  known  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  as  well  as  here 
by  his  voice  and  by  his  books.  Mr.  Meyer  is  to  address  us  tins 
morning  on  the 

OFFICE  AND  WORK   OF  THE   HOLY  SPIRIT. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  B.A.  (London). 

In  so  short  a  time  as  is  allotted  to  me  this  morning  it  will  be 
impossible  to  touch  on  the  merest  outskirts  and  fringe  of  that  grand 
topic  which  has  been  entrusted  to  mc.     But  I  pray  that  every  word 

*  The  reference  is  to  the  news  of  that  morning's  papers  that  peace  was 
likely  to  be  concluded  soon  between  America  and  Spain. 


208  World's  Third 

may  be  fitly  spoken,  and  may  result  in  that  spiritual  power  without 
whicli  all  our  organisation  must  be  in  vain. 

Let  us  take  common  ground  together  and  so  climb  into  the  very 

heart  of  our  subject.  It  is  admitted  by  all  of  us  that  our  f^aviour 
Christ  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  pure  virgin,  and  that 
for  the  first  tliirty  years  (jf  His  ministry  He  was  beneath  the  control 

-*nd  direction  and  infilUng  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  He  had  been 
one  with  Him  from  all  eternity  in  the  mystery  of  the  blessed  Trinity, 
but  now  there  was  a  new  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  in  the  human  body 
of  Christ.  And  as  our  Saviour  walked  backwards  and  forwards  upon 
the  hills  that  surrounded  His  native  home  we  can  imagine  liow  the 
wind  brought  home  to  Him  tlie  wail  of  a  dying  world  and  entreated 
Him  to  hasten  to  its  help.  There  were  Jairuses  that  needed  their 
daughters  to  be  raised,  Marys  that  needed  Lazarus  to  be  called  from 
his  sleep,  many  who  were  in  dire  distress  of  every  kind.  And  yet  tlie 
Lord  Christ  forbore  to  come  to  their  heljj  because  as  yet  He  had  not 
received  the  especial  anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  would  seem  as 
though  lie  felt  that  though  by  His  original  nature  He  was  one  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  His  human  birth  had  bien  conceived  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  yet  he  dared  not  attempt  His  earthly  ministry  until  He 
had  been  anointed  by  that  same  Spirit.  At  last  you  know  how  He 
came  down  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  was  there  baptized  of 
John,  and  emerging  from  the  water  and  standing  beneath  the  blue 
sky,  there  was  a  motion,  a  trembling  motion  as  of  a  dove,  and  the 
Spirit  anointed  Him.  And  St.  John  the  Ba])tist  says,  "  I  beheld  the 
Spirit  descending  and  abitling  upon  Him,"  as  if  the  Spirit  of  God  at 
last  had  found  His  nest  and  resting-place.  Then  our  Lord  came  into 
the  synagogue  of  Nazareth  and  indicated  by  His  first  utterance  that  a 
very  decisive  epoch  had  been  inaugurated,  for  He  said,  "  The  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  Me,  and  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach."' 

Now,  I  want  to  ask  this  great  Convention  this  morning  if  He  that 
is  the  most  glorious,  if  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  dared  not  approach 
His  life  work  until  He  had  received  the  special  anointing,  are  we  not 
foolish  to  send  Sunday  school  teachers  to  their  classes  and  students  from 
our  theological  halls  to  their  pulpits  witliout  seeing  to  it  that  they 
have  been  instructed  in  the  doctrine  of  tlie  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  they 
have  been  led  to  seek  the  especial  endowment  and  equipment  of 
power.  Through  His  earthly  life  our  Lord  wrought  in  the  power  of 
the  third  person  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  "We  must  always  remember  that. 
The  words  He  spoke,  the  miracles  He  did,  the  death  He  died, 
■were  all  through  the  indwelling  and  anointing  jsower  of  that  same 
Spirit,  and  when  presently  from  the  Mount  of  Ascension  He  went 
back  to  His  Father,  if  I  may  dare  to  put  it  so,  the  one  consuming 
passion  that  took  Him  tliere  was  that  He  might  have  the  power  to 
give  to  His  Church  for  her  work  what  He  had  received  from  the  Father 
for  His.  And  when  He  entered  the  most  holy  presence  of  the  Father 
and  was  greeted  with  the  Father's  welcome,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Sou 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased,"  it  was  as  though  He  said  to  His  Father, 


Sunday  School  Convention.  209 

*'  I  ask  of  Thee  nothing  for  Myself ;  it  is  enough  for  Me  to  be  glorified 
with  the  glory  I  had  with  Thee  before  the  world  was  made.  But  I  do 
ask  that  in  My  human  nature,  My  glorified  human  nature,  I  may  have 
the  power  as  the  head  of  ]My  Church  of  communicating  to  the  whole 
membership  of  My  Church  that  same  divine  power  and  anointing  by 
which  I  have  wrought  My  work  in  the  world."  And  it  pleased  the 
Father  that  in  Him  should  all  fulness  dwell.  And  as  we  under- 
stand the  words  of  St.  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  he  at  that 
moment  received  from  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Spirit. 

I  want  to  ask  you  to  ponder  the  immense  force  of  tliat  word 
"  received."  He  was  one  with  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Trinity.  He 
had  been  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin.  He  had  wrought 
His  life  work  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  yet  it  does  seem 
as  though  there  was  a  definite  transaction  by  virtue  of  which  from 
God  the  ^Father  our  Christ,  the  living  and  anointed  Head  of  His 
Church,  received  from  the  Father  the  fulness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  into 
His  human  nature  that  then  He  might  shed  it  forth  upon  His  Church. 
Then  you  remember,  when  He  was  so  charged  and  filled,  He  turned 
at  once  to  His  waiting  people  and  shed  on  them  that  Spirit. 

Now  let  us  for  a  moment  understand  the  precise  parallel  between 
the  work  of  the  Second  Person  and  the  work  of  the  Third  Person  of  the 
Holy  Trinity.  The  Second  Person,  Jesus  Christ,  was  amongst  men 
from  creation,  and  yet  there  was  a  special  moment  when  He  became 
incarnate,  so  the  Holy  Spirit  was  brooding  amongst  men  all  through 
the  ages  of  human  history,  but  there  was  a  distinct  and  special  moment 
when  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  on  His  Church.  Just  as  the  Second 
Person  of  the  Trinity  found  His  home,  so  to  speak,  in  the  body  bom 
of  the  Virgin,  so  the  Third  Person,  the  Holy  Spirit,  found  His  home 
in  the  body  of  the  Church,  the  mystical  body  of  Christ.  And  as  the 
Second  Person  of  the  Holy  Trinity  wrought  through  the  human  body, 
and  by  it  produced  the  marvellous  results  of  His  ministry,  so  did  the 
Third  Person  of  the  Holy  Spirit  descend  to  work  through  the  mystical 
body  the  Church,  and  through  it  to  work  out  the  glorious  results  of 
His  ministry.  And  just  as  Jesus  Christ  was  for  thirty-three  years  in 
our  world  until  He  ascended,  so  we  believe  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
literally  in  the  same  sense  in  the  world  by  the  Church  until  He,  too, 
shall  at  some  distant  season  perchance  withdraw.  Thank  God,  there 
has  been  an  ascension  of  Christ,  but  there  has  not  been  an  ascension  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and,  therefore,  we  believe  that  He  is  still  in  the 
Church — literally  and  absolutely  here. 

Now,  you  know  the  Koman  Catholic  Church  calls  herself  the  See — 
the  Holy  See.  The  word  "see"  is  the  Latin  word  sidere — to  see. 
The  contention  of  Roman  Catholic  theologians  is  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
sits  upon  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as  His  throne.  Now,  we  admit, 
indeed,  we  steadfastly  believe,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  His  see  or 
throne  amongst  men,  but  it  is  not  the  blood-stained  Church  of  Rome. 
It  is  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the  bride  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  He  is 
literally  and  absolutely  in  the  midst  of  His  Church ;  and  what  is  true 

p 


210  World's  Third 

of  the  microcosm  of  the  whole  Church  is  true  of  the  microcosm  of  any 
individual  Church,  so  that  whensoever  a  minister  stands  up  in  hia 
pulpit  or  a  Sunday  school  teacher  in  his  class  to  speak  for  the  loving 
Christ  he  may  absolutely  depend  upon  the  co-operation,  the  fellowship 
in  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  God  who  is  with  him,  absolutely  in  his 
service. 

I  saw  the  other  day  two  men  at  work  upon  a  beam  of  wood,  sawing 
it  through.  The  one  man  was  on  the  top  of  the  pit-mouth.  Another 
confederate  was  evidently  beneath,  and  these  two  were  at  work 
together  upon  the  same  beam.  And  I  was  able  to  tell  the  rhythm  of  tlte 
motion  of  the  body  of  the  man  I  could  not  see  by  the  rhythm  of  the 
motion  of  the  man  that  I  could.  And  I  saw  at  once  an  analogy  to 
help  me,  that  whenever  you  stand  up  to  do  the  work  of  God  you  have 
an  unseen  confederate  with  whom  you  may  always  co-operate. 

But  it  is  not  only  for  us  who  long  to  know  how  we  may  have  to  the 
fullest  in  our  life  the  co-operation  and  fellowship  of  the  Spirit — and 
here  let  me  announce  a  law  which  everybody  is  familiar  with,  that 
law  of  mechanics  which  many  of  us  learned  years  and  years  ago,  but 
which  is  very  helpful  in  this  juncture  of  our  thought.  If  you  will  obey 
the  law  of  the  forces,  the  forces  will  obey  you.  For  instance,  I  want 
to  saw  this  wood.  I  put  up  the  machinery  of  a  saw-mill.  This  stream 
shall  supply  my  water-power.  But  if  I  want  that  water  to  help  me 
to  do  my  work  it  is  not  for  me  to  insist  xipon  it  rising  uphill,  or  in  some 
other  way  obeying  my  whim.  I  must  be  prepared  to  consider  the  law 
of  water,  that  it  seeks  its  own  level,  that  it  must  pulsate  in  a  certain 
way,  and  throb  against  the  wheel,  and  only  when  by  my  wheel  I  have 
obeyed  the  law  of  water  is  the  water  compelled  to  obey  me. 

I  asked  a  man  when  there  was  most  electricity  in  the  world,  whether 
to-day  or  in  the  days  of  King  Alfred.  He  put  on  his  considering  cap 
and  answered,  "  Why,  sir,  of  course  there  is  more  electricity  in  the 
world  to-day  than  there  ever  was."  I  said,  "  My  friend,  think  for  a 
moment.  There  was  as  much  electricity  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  as 
there  is  in  the  world  to-day."  Before  Adam  walked  this  place,  before 
Eve  drank  of  the  river  of  life  or  eat  of  its  fruit,  there  was  electricity 
in  the  world,  in  the  cloud,  in  water,  in  motion,  everywhere  around. 
But  Adam  did  not  understand  its  laws.  Methuselah  did  not  under- 
stand them,  King  Alfred  did  not  understand  them.  It  was  left  for 
Edison,  and  for  men  who  have  followed  in  his  track,  by  days  and  nights 
of  study  to  comprehend  the  laws  upon  which  electricity  works,  and 
then  by  complying  with  these  laws  to  call  on  electricity  to  perform  the 
functions  of  our  civilisation.  What  are  our  contrivances,  what  is  our 
carefully-constructed  apparatus,  what  is  all  this  machinery  with  which 
the  world  is  full,  except  so  many  contrivances  obeying  the  law  upon 
which  the  great  forces  work — which  the  man  who  can  convey  most 
actively  can  command  most  imperiously. 

So  it  is  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  is  as  much  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  His  Church  to-day  as  there  was  in  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The  Holy 
Spirit  does  not  need  to  be  cried  out  to  as  though  God  were  deaf;  the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  211 

Holy  Spirit  does  uot  need  to  be  entreated  by  long  days  and  nights  of 
prayer ;  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  unwilling  to  come  to  our  help ;  but  He 
must  wait  until  we  have  complied  with  the  condition  upon  which  Ho 
works,  and  directly  the  simplest  man  here  complies  with  the  condi- 
tions of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  man  instantly  may  command  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  his  work. 

First,  then,  you  cannot  disassociate  the  power  of  the  Spirit  from 
Himself.  There  are  many  people  who  speak  about  "  It "  who  should 
speak  about  "Him."  There  are  many  who  talk  about  power  who 
should  seek  the  Spirit  in  whom  the  power  lives.  And  you  will  make 
a  profound  mistake  if  you  are  always  ambitious  for  the  attribute  or 
quality,  apart  from  the  person  of  Him  of  whom  that  quality  and 
attribute  is  the  property. 

Then,  secondly,  we  must  see  to  it,  that  we  are  prepared  for  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  cleanse  the  nature  in  which  He  shall  reside.  God 
Almighty  is  not  going  to  put  pure  water  into  a  filthy  bucket.  God 
Almighty  is  not  going  to  co-operate  with  men  whose  hearts  are  steeped 
in  selfishness  and  impurity.  And  if  you  and  I  want  to  work  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  we  must  be  prepared  for  the  cleansing  graces  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  relieve  us  from  the  constant  pressure  of  selfishness  and  sin. 

Then,  thirdly,  if  we  would  have  the  infilling  co-operation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  we  must  be  very  careful  to  seek  only  the  glory  of  Christ. 
The  Spirit  of  God  glorifies  Christ  as  Christ  glorifies  the  Father,  and 
if  you  and  I  are  going  to  work  with  the  Spirit  of  God  we  must  have  but 
one  aim — Christ.  Before  you  leave  your  room  to  address  your  clasa 
you  must  have  a  private  conference  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  You  must 
be  prepared  to  say  to  Him  that  you  have  but  one  purpose  in  the 
message  you  are  going  to  tell,  and  it  is  to  make  Jesus  Christ  more 
glorious  before  your  scholars,  and  it  is  just  in  proportion  as  you  enter 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  this  consuming  passion 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  will  enter  into  your  life  and  will  co-operate 
with  you. 

And  then,  fourthly,  you  must  be  very  careful  to  seek  the  Holy 
Spirit  along  the  line  of  the  word  of  God.  There  have  been  a  great 
many  holy  men  in  the  past  ages,  and  indeed  some  are  living  to-day 
who  think  that  the  Spirit  of  God  works  spasmodically  upon  the  heart 
and  apart  from  the  written  word  of  God.  And  there  is  nothing  so 
hurtful  to  a  Church  or  to  an  individual  as  to  divorce  the  Spirit  from 
the  Word.  And  therefore  we  must  always  put  the  word  of  God  in  the 
forefront. 

And  then,  fiftlily,  we  must  receive  the  word  of  God  by  faith; 
Gal.  iii.  14,  establishes  that  not  by  emotion  ;  not  even  by  heartrending 
prayer ;  not  by  protracted  supplication,  but  by  simply  opening  our 
whole  nature  to  receive  the  Spirit  of  God  in  all  His  anointing  equipping 
fulness.  The  Spirit  of  God  may  be  in  you.  He  may  not  as  yet  have 
anointed  you.  You  may  have  appreciated  Him  as  the  Spirit  of 
regeneration,  and  the  Spirit  of  sanctification,  and  the  Spirit  of  inspira- 
tion, but  you  may  not  as  yet  have  recognised  Him  as  the  mighty  Spirit 

p  2 


212  World's  Third 

to  equip,  to  infill,  and  to  co-operato  with  and  to  have  fellowehip  with  you 
in  your  work.  And  what  God  calls  you  at  this  moment  to  do  as  I 
apprehend  it,  is  to  say,  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  not  going  to  rest 
in  my  life  until  I  know  in  my  own  character  what  it  is  to  be  anointed 
and  infilled  with  the  Spirit  of  God." 

There  are  these  five  steps  which  Andrew  Murray  has  so  well 
enumerated,  and  as  I  utter  them  before  resuming  my  scat  I  ask  every 
one  of  you  to  take  these  positions  mentally  and  spiritually.  First, 
there  is  such  a  blessing  as  the  anointing  power  of  the  Spirit.  Secondly, 
it  is  for  me ;  that  is  true,  because  St.  Peter  said  :  "  The  promiHO  is  to 
every  one  whom  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call,"  and  if  God  has  called 
you  the  Spirit  of  Pentecost  is  for  you.  Thirdly,  I  have  not  got  Him 
in  that  sense — and  let  that  strike  a  chill  upon  every  man  and  woman 
who  is  in  that  condition — as  I  have  not  yet  received  the  anointing. 
Then,  fourthly,  I  am  prepared  to  make  any  sacrifice  to  receive  Him  ; 
and  then,  fifthly,  I  yield  myself  to  Christ  that  He  may  communicate 
it.  And  then,  without  spasm,  without  emotion,  without  any  pheno- 
menal experience  probably,  but  quietly,  gradually,  and  almost  imper- 
ceptibly as  the  dew  distils  upon  the  grass,  and  as  the  rain  dro^js  from 
the  sky  there  shall  come  upon  your  waiting  recipient  spirit  the  gentle, 
holy  infilling  and  anointing  Holy  Ghost,  and  you  shall  go  back  to 
your  work  as  those  Apostles  went  to  their  preaching  in  the  evening  of 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  as  those  who  have  received  God's  greatest  gift. 
Let  us  pray. 

O  Saviour,  Thou  dost  baptise  with  the  Spirit.  Thou  hast  given  us 
the  wish  to  do  Thy  will  or  we  would  not  be  here  to-day.  But  many 
of  us  are  conscious  of  a  great  lack  of  power,  and  we  do  ask  tliat  tliis 
morning  we  may  have  that  hunger  and  thirst  met.  We  come  to 
Thee :  we  desire  to  receive  Thy  best.  We  yield  ourselves  to  Thee 
that  anything  that  hinders  may  be  taken  away.  And  now,  without 
looking  for  anything  like  a  tongue  of  flame  or  a  rush  of  wind,  we 
quietly  submit  ourselves  to  the  blessed  Spirit,  and  by  faith  we  hear 
and  now  receive  into  our  nature  His  mighty  indwelling,  His  anointing. 
His  power.  Let  the  heaven  be  opened  to  us  now.  Let  the  dove-like 
Spirit  come.  Let  our  whole  nature  be  empowered  with  new  power, 
and  from  this  moment  may  there  be  a  deep  consciousness  of  God  in 
our  life,  but  a  new  power  and  God  in  our  ministry  and  the  co-operation 
and  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost  always.  We  give  glory  to  Thee  for 
Thy  great  gift  and  ask  that  we  may  not  miss  one  crumb  of  what  Thou 
hast  prepared  for  us,  for  Jesus'  sake.     Amen. 

The  Chaibman  :  We  all  sincerely  thank  Mr.  Meyer  for  the  divine 
message  to  us.  It  was  worth  while  coming  to  London  to  receive  that 
if  we  receive  nothing  else.  We  will  now  sing  the  hymn,  "Lord, 
speak  to  me  that  I  may  speak,"  and  make  it  a  prayer  as  we  sing. 

After  the  hymn  had  been  sung  the  Chaibman  said :  I  think  our 
beloved  sister  must  have  written  that  hymn  after  she  had  got  the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  213 

fulness  of  blessing  of  which  she  wrote  and  of  which  we  have  heard  this 
morning.  Our  good  friend  and  beloved  brother,  John  Eeynolds,  I 
met  in  New  Orleans  one  afternoon,  and  I  said, "  What  are  you  doing 
liere  ? "  And  he  said,  "  I  have  come  all  this  distance  on  Sunday 
school  work."  I  like  to  say  this  to  everybody  in  New  Orleans,  and  I 
have  travelled  thousands  of  miles  for  nothing  else.  And  when  I  enter 
into  the  business  houses  as  I  used  to  when  in  business  they  say, 
"  What  are  you  here  for?"  "  Sunday  school  work."  "  But  you  came 
for  something  else,  didn't  you  ? "  "  No ;  I  came  for  Sunday  school 
work  " — and  they  begin  to  talk  in  New  Orleans.  They  say,  "  There's 
a  man  come  these  thousands  of  miles  for  Sunday  school  work  alone." 
Now  I  want  to  introduce  you  to  an  object-lesson  this  morning.  He 
has  come  1  G,000  miles  for  Sunday  school  work  and  Sunday  school  work 
alone.  It  is  an  object-lesson  to  see  a  man  that  has  been  travelling 
six  weeks  to  come  to  this  Convention.  And  I  have  great  pleasure  in 
introducing  to  you  our  friend. 


EXTENSION  OF  THE  WOKK  IN  VARIOUS  LANDS. 
By  Mr.  Archibald  Jackson  (Melbourne,  Victoria). 

The  topic  assigned  to  me  is  one  upon  which  I  scarcely  feel  qualified 
to  write,  as  it  presupposes  an  acquaintance  with  the  condition  of  work 
in  all  limds  where  the  Sunday  school  has  become  an  active  force  in 
religious  life.  These  conditions  vary  according  to  climate,  education, 
and  national  characteristics,  and  while  there  is  much  that  is  general 
to  all  in  the  principles  of  our  work,  methods  practical  in  some  cases 
may  not  be  applicable  in  others. 

So  far  as  personal  knowledge  goes  I  can  only  deal  with  aspects  of 
the  work  common  to  all  and  indicate  what  seems  to  me  to  be  the 
pobition  generally  and  the  lines  ui^on  which  development  or  extension 
can  be  made. 

Better  organisation  was  at  the  root  of  extension.  England  and 
America  lead,  but  even  in  these  lands  it  is  yet  far  from  perfect. 
Those  familiar  with  American  methods  know  what  a  prominent  place 
organisation  holds  in  their  programme.  From  centres  it  should  be 
possible  to  gauge  the  condition  of  the  country  associated  with  each 
without  difficulty,  and  to  trace  either  its  advance  or  retrogression. 
The  London  Union  through  its  Council  is  endeavouring  to  organise 
Sunday  school  forces  within  the  home  land,  and  is  also  encouraging 
and  stimulating  the  colonies  to  do  likewise.  To  the  north  the  same 
spirit  is  manifest  in  the  framing  of  the  constitution  for  a  Scottish 
National  Union.  A  broad  constitution  will  lead  to  development  and 
local  organisation,  and  an  extension  and  consolidation  of  the  work. 

From  American  reports  at  this  Convention  and  her  now  widely  cir- 
culated newspapers  it  is  evident  that  the  same  spirit  is  abroad  there, 
and  that  they  recognise  that  this  question  lies  at  the  root  of  extension. 
Hence  State,  city,  township  associations  and  primary  unions  with  the 


214  World's  Third 

Convention  as  a  rallying  point.  Some  States  are  completely  organised, 
■we  are  told.  If  so  that  is  a  great  attainment,  and  we  hope  by  the 
maintenance  of  this  complete  organisation  they  will  always  stand  to 
the  front  as  object  lessons  to  less  enthusiastic  countries. 

In  Australia  we  are  weak.  Population  is  sparse  and  widely 
scattered,  distances  are  great.  Associations  in  Queensland  and  South 
Australia  are  numerically  small.  Western  Australia  has  scarcely 
commenced  ;  New  South  Wales,  apart  from  a  few  struggling  denomi- 
national unions,  has  none.  New  Zealand  has  provincial  associations 
comparatively  strong,  and  in  Victoria  there  are  seven  or  eight  deno- 
minational, and  one  undenominational,  unions.  They  are  ready  and 
willing  to  co-operate  in  any  great  movement,  but  the  time  is  ripe  for 
extension  on  a  broader  basis. 

What  we  urgently  require  is  an  association  in  every  colony,  report- 
ing annually  to  an  Australian  Council.  Each  association  to  organise 
■within  its  own  borders,  co-operating  with  the  Council,  which  in  turn 
will  constitute  the  connection  with  the  International  Lesson  Committee 
and  the  World's  Sunday  School  Convention.  Only  by  creating  channels 
can  we  hope  successfully  to  communicate  intelligence  and  receive  in 
return  reports  from  outposts  to  guide  future  eiforts.  The  difficulty  is 
to  create  a  feeling  of  responsibility  and  an  adequate  conception  of  the 
possibilities  of  regenerating  the  world  through  a  concentration  of 
eflfort  upon  the  childhood  of  a  country.  It  would  require  a  much 
longer  paper  than  the  time  at  disposal  •will  permit  to  place  before  the 
Convention  the  benefits  to  be  derived  by  a  completed  organization. 
Nor  is  it  necessary.  The  story  of  extension  has  been  ringing  in  your 
ears  all  the  week.  It  is  patent  to  us  that  in  no  time  of  secular  or 
Christian  ■work  can  satisfactory  results  be  attained  -without  it. 

I  wish  to  point  out,  however,  that  in  a  peculiar  sense  we  are 
dependent  on  organisation  both  for  the  maintenance  and  extension  of 
the  Sunday  school  cause.  This  may  be  regarded  as  the  mere  empha- 
sising of  a  platitude.  Its  voluntariness  is  at  once  its  glory  and  its 
danger.  The  loss  of  leaders  by  death,  illness,  or  removal  from  spheres 
of  usefulness  leads  too  often  to  retrogression.  Less  experienced 
workers  arc  thrust  sometimes  into  their  places  and  in  a  few  years 
schools,  at  one  time  models  of  order  and  efficiency,  drift  through 
neglect  or  indifference  into  a  state  bordering  on  'chaos.  There  is 
constant  need  of  touch  with  a  central  organisation  to  quicken  schools 
and  local  societies  into  a  sense  of  their  obligations  and  responsibilities. 

If  I  say  organise,  organise,  organise,  some  may  exclaim,  "  Too  mucli 
machinery."  My  friend,  until  you  get  the  machinery  you  can't  take 
the  contract.     My  next  point  is — 

2.  Greater  Concentration  on  Cliildhood. — The  child  in  the  midst  has 
been  the  central  thought  in  this  Convention.  The  Christian  Church 
has  not  yet  realised  the  possibilities  of  childhood.  When  it  does  you 
will  see  something  like  an  equalisation  of  expenditure.  There  will 
not  be  a  thousand  pounds  a  year  spent  on  running  a  ministry  to  adults 
and  twenty  or  thirty  pounds  on  double  the  nimiber  of  children.    There 


Sunday  School  Convention.  215 

may  not  be  too  much  spent  on  sleepy,  self-satisfied  "  grown-ups  "  who 
yield  but  a  poor  return,  but  there  is  far  too  little  spent  on  the  young. 
The  better  the  Church  understands  the  plasticity  of  childhood  and  its 
own  opportunities  the  greater  the  extension  everywhere. 

It  is  ours  as  teachers  to  help  mould  this  sentiment.  Pardon  me 
if  I  seem  to  take  a  narrower  ground  and  put  in  a  word  for  individual 
concentration.  We  are  warned  about  the  man  with  a  hobby,  but  the 
hobbyist's  concentration  constitutes  his  success  in  his  own  department. 
I  do  not  suggest  that  in  the  Sunday  school  you  should  find  your  only 
Christian  work — that  would  cramp  you,  for  you  must  get  a  broad  out- 
look ;  but  I  do  say  make  it  your  principal  work.  Concentrate  your 
efforts  upon  it,  and  do  it  conscientiously.  In  my  own  land  I  have 
noticed  a  distinct  loss  of  interest  through  too  many  claims  by  other 
societies.  One  has  practically  "pumped"  the  whole  constituency. 
You  can't  do  visitation,  sunshine  work,  street  preaching,  run  two 
schemes  of  Bible  study,  attend  social  committees,  literary  societies, 
and  do  your  duty  as  a  teacher  thoroughly.  If  you  are  to  assist  in 
pushing  the  Sunday  school  extension  chariot  you  will  find  tliat  your 
time  is  pretty  fully  occupied. 

3.  Adoption  and  Adherence  to  the  Uniform  Lesson. — The  statement 
that  no  other  movement  has  contributed  so  greatly  to  extension  of  the 
Sunday  school  as  the  International  Lesson  plan  is  generally  accepted. 
Its  mission  is  not  yet  completed.  There  is  room  for  advance,  and  the 
present  gathering  is  an  opportunity  to  lay  stress  upon  the  fact.  It 
does  not  become  a  visitor  to  dogmatise,  but  I  believe  Scotland,  next 
best  place  to  Australia,  would  be  a  distinct  gainer  by  falling  into  line. 
They  would  benefit  themselves  and  us  by  this  strong  link,  and  it  would 
be  worth  while  giving  the  Primary  International  Lesson — some  of  us 
want  it  all  the  same,  and  believe  it  an  extension — to  win  them  over. 
The  splendid  and  accurate  literature  which  lies  at  its  back  is  not  the 
least  of  its  advantages.  By  loyal  adherence  and  patient  striving  for 
light  and  guidance,  we  can  still  develop  and  extend  along  this  line, 
and  I  am  glad  to  speak  for  a  country  in  which  there  is  no  jarring  note 
of  discontent.  Except  in  the  Church  of  England  in  Australia,  the 
International  lessons  are  universally  adopted. 

4.  By  Higher  Education. — In  a  more  comprehensive  sense  than  ever 
"  the  schoolmaster  is  abroad."  The  standard  of  education  is  being 
raised  everywhere.  If  we  are  to  stand  well  with  our  scholars,  with 
our  work,  with  educational  methods,  we  too  must  make  a  very  di&tinct 
advance. 

America  leads  the  way.  So  she  should,  for  she  has  most  at  stake 
in  seeking  to  mould  the  character  of  descendants  of  the  heterogeneous 
masses  swarming  to  her  shores. 

In  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies  we  have  teachers'  examinations, 
preparation  classes,  and  normal  classes  too,  but  they  are  neither 
general  enough  nor  appreciated  enough  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
times.  We  are  too  much  given  to  drawing  up  schemes,  and  regulations, 
and  the  issuing  of  invitations.    Let  us  make  a  propaganda  of  this 


216  World's  Third 

business;  that  means  extension  in  its  best  sense.  I  cannot  spare 
time  to  speak  of  our  own  Normal  College  in  Melbourne,  with  its  two 
years'  course,  comprising  Biblical  History,  Christian  Evidences, 
Theory  of  Teaching,  and  the  Art  and  Practice  of  Teaching.  Some 
200  of  the  students  are  in  our  schools,  and  not  a  few  in  the  mission 
fields  of  India  and  China.  To  graduate  in  that  college  has  been 
accepted  as  a  standard  of  qualification  for  foreign  service  by  several 
of  our  missionary  societies.  I  wish  we  had  been  placed  for  report  at 
this  Convention  instead  of  China.  My  boy  wrote  lue  this  week: 
"  Grandfather  has  measured  me  against  the  door-post,  and  I'm  five 
feet  one-and-a-half  inches  in  my  stockings."  You  should  have 
measured  the  younger  son  at  this  Convention,  and  you  would  have 
found  him  a  growing  child.  Next  Convention  you  would  have  seen 
him  a  bit  taller.  You  know  he  can  pull  an  oar,  and  you  know  how 
he  can  bat  and  bowl — well,  in  tliis  higher  and  better  game,  warfare, 
if  you  like,  we  pray  to  be  worthy  of  an  honourable  place. 

The  pressing  home  of  this  object  leads  me,  in  passing,  to  refer  to  the 
training  of  special  workers,  sucli  as  field-superinteudents,  missionaries, 
agents,  and  the  like.  The  Bible  Normal  College  of  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  is  the  outstanding  advance  in  this  direction.  Why 
should  not  the  Bible  Institute  of  Glasgow  follow  with  a  Sunday  school 
department  on  similar  lines.  What  the  Band  of  Hope  Union  of  the 
United  Kingdom  is  doing  by  means  of  its  lecturers  should  be  done  for 
the  Sunday  schools  by  qualified  normal  workers.  For  every  one  so 
sent  out  you  are  raising,  not  hundreds,  but  thousands  of  teachers  to 
the  higher  platform. 

Again  we  see  developments  in  the  lectures  given  by  Mr.  Arcliibald 
of  Canada  before  the  theological  schools,  and  I  think  I  am  correct  in 
saying  that  Scotland  has  been  doing  a  similar  work  in  two  or  three  of 
the  divinity  halls.  This  should  gladden  our  hearts,  for  the  better 
instruction  of  the  ministry  in  Sunday  school  methods  will  prove  no 
mean  factor  in  extension.  But  here  let  me  say  that  if  any  association 
determines  to  send  out  a  field-worker  or  agent,  see  that  he  goes  forth  to 
do  his  specific  work.  Don't  put  him  in  an  ofiBce  to  interview,  or  keep 
books,  or  address  circulars,  or  attend  to  details,  or,  worse  still,  raise  his 
own  salary.  Make  him  an  aggressive  force.  In  passing  round  the 
corner  of  Mount  Gilboa,  near  Jezreel,  lately,  I  saw  a  moving  mass  of 
green  stuff  coming  along  the  track  with  a  Syrian  peasant  in  attend- 
ance. It's  a  wonder  he  was  not  on  top  of  the  load.  On  approach  we 
saw  four  thin  legs,  almost  hidden,  two  ears,  and  as  we  moved  astern,  a 
tail.  It  was  a  donkey.  I  could  not  help  saying  sorrowfully  to  my 
guide,  as  the  procession  passed,  "  There  goes  a  paid  Sunday  school 
secretary  and  his  committee.     He  is  hidden  in  the  stuff." 

Trained  workers,  either  paid  or  unpaid,  by  churches  would  minimise 
if  not  do  away  with  "  the  one-eyed  policy  "  of  closing  schools  for  long 
periods  in  the  summer.  It  could  be  done  by  them  either  by  enlarged 
classes  or  desk  teaching.  I  visited  in  this  land  lately  a  mission  school 
with  between  four  and  five  hundred  scholars  that  was  closing  its  doors 


Sunday  School  Convention.  217 

for  three  mouths.  The  practice  seemed  general  in  that  part  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  If  teachers  were  going  holiday  making  three 
months,  the  children  of  the  slums  were  not.  A  trained  man  or,  better, 
a  trained  Christian  lady — could  keep  the  mission  together  when 
necessary.  Missions  of  that  magnitude  are  worthy  of  it,  and  a  church 
would  make  a  good  investment  in  getting  one.  With  a  climate  that 
in  summer  reaches  at  times  109^  iu  the  shade,  we  have  not  yet  enter- 
tained tlie  question  of  closing  our  doors,  although  we  dearly  love 
holidays  in  the  Sunny  South. 

We  are  not  likely,  I  think,  to  forget  the  lesson  on  higher  primary 
education  given  on  Wednesday  by  Mr.  Black  and  the  gifted  ladies  of 
the  American  delegation,  who  invited  us  to  step  down  to  the  child 
that  we  might  climb  up. 

But  I  must  be  brief,  and  make  haste  to  say  a  word  oj-  two  on — 

5.  An  Improved  Literature.  I  said  a  little  while  ago  that  we  had  a 
literature  of  which  we  have  reason  to  be  proud.  Quite  so.  But  that 
does  not  mean  that  we  are  satisfied  with  it.  Here  I  refer  more  par- 
ticularly to  literature  as  connected  with  teaching.  Private  enterprise 
and  competition  are  helping  us  to  develop  it.  We  strive  as  though  we 
had  not  yet  attained.  We  can  place  the  American  Sunday  School 
Times  and  the  English  Sunday  School  Chronicle  on  the  table  alongside 
either  the  secular  or  other  religious  paper  and  not  feel  ashamed. 
Then  there  is  the  International  Evangel,  with  its  wide-world  outlook. 
I  think — pardon  the  egotism — you  might  even  give  the  Australian 
Teacher  a  place  not  far  oft'.  Again,  we  look  at  Uncle  Sam,  and  say 
with  colonial  irreverence,  "  Good  on  you,  old  boy."  With  your  com- 
mentaries, your  magazines,  your  quarterlies,  your  pictures — by  the 
way,  we  take  400  picture  rolls  a  quarter  through  our  depot,  and  I 
suppose  about  1000  silhouettes — your  leaves,  your  Kindergarten  cards, 
and  blocks  and  sand  maps,  you  are  doing  splendidly.  The  kangaroo 
can't  roar  or  cheer  you,  but  he  hops  with  delight.  But  to  Father 
England,  the  home  of  literature,  we  say,  "Wake  up,  Governor." 
You're  getting  too  stout.  It's  not  for  the  small  boy  to  tell  you  how — 
he  can  only  think ;  but  there's  room  for  extension.  The  young 
world  calls  for  something  fresh  and  beautiful.  The  eye  as  well  as  the 
car  is  open  wide  to  receive.  Time  fails  me  to  speak  of  India's  noble 
efibrt  to  establish  a  literature  of  her  own  as  well  as  of  others  ;  but  type 
and  ink  and  brush  and  colour  are  great  factors  in  extension  work. 
Lastly,  Extension 

G.  By  Missionary  Effort.  This  Convention  has  been  retrospective 
and  prospective.  It  has  been  a  story  of  extension  all  through — a 
record  of  work  accomplished,  of  new  opportunities  opening.  Our 
hearts  have  burned  within  us  as  we  have  talked  by  the  way.  Home 
missionary  effort  has  been  ably  voiced.  The  home  department,  with 
its  individual  membership,  its  cottage  and  drawing-room  classes, 
invites  us  to  still  go  forward,  and  Mr.  Maxwell's  address  on  the  work 
among  coloured  people  in  the  Southern  States  stirred  your  souls.  To 
the  foreign  reports,  as  given  by  Mr.  Burgea  and  Mr.  Ikehara  for  India 


218  World's  Third 

and  Japan,  and  Mr.  Holmes  for  the  Continent,  I  need  not  refer  further 
than  to  say  that  there  are  other  fields  to  conquer.  China  and  others 
call.  Russia  may  yet  show  an  open  door.  Spread  the  glad  tidings ; 
but  while  wo  reach  out  to  other  lands,  strengthen  the  position  at  home. 
There  are  heathen  at  uur  own  doors.  On  good  authority  it  is  stated 
that  one-half  of  the  population  of  one  of  the  largest  cities  in  the 
United  Kingdom  (450,000  people)  have  no  Church  connection.  The 
drunkenness,  the  sellish  greed,  the  prostitution,  call  as  loudly  as  any 
heathendom.  Savages  are  in  many  respects  better  oflf  than  the  hordes 
of  our  city  slums,  and  perhaps  less  hard  to  deal  with. 

I  want  before  closing  to  tell  you  of  a  work  of  our  own  and  the 
necessity  that  lies  upon  us  to  prosecute  it.  With  one  exception  the 
colonies  have  pronounced  in  favour  of  secular  education.  Personally 
I  am  proud  of  the  system,  although  I  reflect  neither  the  mind  of  the 
Churches  nor  my  own  committee.  I  believe  it  to  be  our  opportimity 
and  the  magnification  of  our  office  in  the  eyes  of  the  public. 

Secular  dcjcs  not  mean  irreligious,  as  Dr.  Clifford  has  lately  shown. 
The  leading  evangelist  of  the  United  Kingdom  testified  that  the  most 
maligned  of  our  cities  was  a  "  godly  place,"  and  I  go  back  after  my 
visit  to  Europe  with  his  judgment  confirmed. 

The  secular  acts  throw  great  responsibilities  upon  our  Sunday 
schools.  While  doing  our  best  for  the  city — I  speak  here  more  particu- 
larly for  ray  own^ — we  are  trying  to  reach  out  to  the  children  scattered 
sparsely  throughout  the  country.  In  connection  with  our  Bush 
Mission  we  have  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  schools  associated,  and 
half  as  many  more  have  been  established  and  passed  over  to  denomi- 
national charge.  In  this  we  have  been  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  American  Union.  Scores  have  been  started  and  after  running  for 
years  have  been  closed  either  from  want  of  workers  or  no  further 
necessity.  Whenever  we  found  a  Christian  willing  to  work  and 
children  to  be  taught  we  encourage  and  assist  in  the  fi^rmation  of  a 
school.  In  farmers'  barns,  or  in  the  h(juses,  selectors'  huts,  village 
settlements,  in  the  forests,  with  logs  for  benches,  under  spreading 
trees,  or  in  the  great  bole  of  a  eucalyptus  giant,  schools  have  been 
founded  and  fruit  reaped.  By  visitation,  free  supplies  of  literature, 
correspondence  and  conferences,  we  help  build  Bethels  in  tlie 
wilderness. 

Queensland  is  following  in  our  footsteps,  so  is  South  Australia,  and 
the  others  are  coming  along.  We  need  field  workers,  and  God  speed 
the  day  for  their  call.  Before  another  year  passes  Victoria  hopes  to 
send  out  her  first  bush  missionary— I  mean  the  first  devoted  exclusively 
to  this  work.  He  is  in  training  now.  I  think  I  see  his  van  at  the 
door  and  the  committee  coming  down  to  give  It  their  blessing.  His 
hammock  swings  across  comers,  his  cupboard  is  full,  his  forage  |is 
stowed,  his  stock  of  Sunday  school  literature  is  complete.  That  van 
will  cheer  hearts  in  lonely  homes,  in  great  solitudes.  The  lantern 
will  delight  the  cliildren  and  gather  them  in.  Plain  and  forest  will 
be  made  glad  with  the  voices  of  the  children.     In  a  few  years  we 


Sunday  School  Convention.  219 

should  have  not  one  hundred  and  fifty  but  three  or  four  hundred 
missions. 

The  motto  of  tlie  Society  of  Foresters  is,  "  Take,  eat,  give."  We 
have  tasted  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  wo  are  commanded  to 
pass  it  on.  We  will  for  long  hear  the  music  of  the  great  choirs  that 
delighted  us  with  their  ministry  of  song  at  the  Crystal  Palace  on 
Wednesday.  It  was  at  once  a  revelation  and  an  inspiration,  a  unique 
manifestation  of  Britain's  supremacy  at  least  in  one  department.  We 
go  forth  to  try  and  emulate  this,  and  the  other  good  things  we  have 
seen  and  heard  at  this  Convention,  and  to  help  make  the  sweet  strains 
of  our  Sunday  schools'  harmony  in  all  languages,  girdle  the  globe  and 
link  them  by  prayer  as  with  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God. 

The  Chairman  :  We  thank  Mr.  Jackson  most  heartily  for  his  most 
helpful  and  instructive  and  splendid  paper.  I  think  there  was  a 
wonderful  fitness  in  the  selections  made  by  this  committee,  who  has 
done  its  work  so  admirably.  Mr.  Jackson  has  reminded  us  that  the 
flag  of  his  country  is  a  kangaroo.  That  goes,  I  understand,  by  leaps 
and  bounds,  and  judging  from  the  way  this  work  has  been  done  I 
hope  we  will  all  put  upon  our  flags  the  kangaroo  to  show  the  way  we 
are  going  to  make  progress  in  this  work.  And  now  we  come  back 
again  to  the  United  States.  I  observe  that  it  must  be  thought  by 
the  gentleman  who  got  this  programme  up  to  be  a  very  small  place, 
because  the  speaker  is  simply  described  as  of  U.S.A.  I  will  go 
further  and  tell  you  that  it  is  Mr.  C.  D.  Meigs,  of  Indiana,  who  will 
speak  to  you  upon  the  most  important  question  of 

ORGANISED  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  WORK  IN  AMERICA. 
By  Mr.  C.  D.  Meigs  (Indiana). 

Dear  friends, — I  am  going  to  speak  this  morning  about  a  great 
topic — organised  Sunday  school  work  in  America.  This  topic  has 
no  reference  to  individual  Sunday  schools,  but  to  international,  inter- 
denominational, association  Sunday  school  work. 

When  we  landed  in  Liverpool  last  Sunday  morning  some  gentlemen 
very  kindly  came  to  greet  us.  I  said  I  would  like  to  see  the  largest 
and  best  Sunday  school.  One  friend  replied  :  "  I  think  such  a  school " 
— giving  it  a  name — "  is  generally  considered  the  largest  school." 
"How  many  scholars ? "  I  said.  "Three  or  four  hundred.  Over  in 
America  you  get  them  by  the  thousand,  but  in  England  we  are  satisfied 
if  we  get  them  by  the  hundred."  Satisfied  I  Satisfied  if  you  get  them 
by  the  hundred  !  Oh,  my  friends,  we  hope  this  Convention  will  make 
you  dissatisfied  with  the  hundreds,  and  will  lead  you  to  yearn  for  the 
thousands  and  show  new  methods  by  which  you  can  reach  tliem. 

Some  one  has  said  you  can  do  a  good  deal  with  a  Scotchman  if  you 
catch  him  young.  It  is  just  as  true  of  an  Englishman,  a  Frenchman, 
and  I  begin  to  believe  it  is  true  even  of  an  American  that  you  can 
do  a  good  deal  with  him  if  you  catch  him  young.    In  fact  it  is  true  of 


220  World's  Third 

u  horse;  it  is  true  of  any  animal,  or  any  man,  or  any  child — you  can  do 
a  good  deal  with  them  if  you  catch  tliem  young.  The  International 
Sunday  School  Association  is  organized  for  tlie  very  purpose  of 
"  catching  them  young  "  and  training  them  in  the  blessed  truths  of 
the  Bible.  If  you  wait  till  they  get  old  before  you  try  to  catch  them, 
it  may  be  they  will  do  more  with  you  than  you  are  able  to  do  with 
them. 

I  should  like  to  ask  two  questions,  and  try  to  answer  them.  First, 
why  should  we  reach  the  "  masses  "  with  the  Gospel  ?  Second,  how 
can  we  do  it  ? 

First,  then,  why  should  we  ?  I  find  as  I  read  thiB  blessed  Book 
that  God  has  divided  the  world  into  two  classes,  two  classes  only, 
and  He  has  a  word  for  each  class.  Let  me  i)ut  them  on  the  black- 
board.    Hero  they  are 


LOST 
"COM  E." 

SAVED 
"  G  0." 

There  is  not  a  sinner  in  all  England,  in  all  the  world,  who  is  such 
a  sinner  and  has  strayed  so  far  away  from  God  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  not  put  out  a  standing  invitation  to  him  to  Come  to  Him  for 
salvation. 

Now,  the  word  to  the  saved  is  a  different  one  and  a  shorter  one.  It  is 
Go.  Jesus  Christ  tells  us  to  go,  and  how  far  to  go.  "  Go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  Some  of  us  think 
that  is  most  too  far.  "We  cannot  go  that  far.  I  have  often  wondered 
what  we  should  say  if  the  Great  Judge  did  call  us  up  and  ask,  "  Did 
you  hear  My  command  to  go,  Christian  ?  "  "  Yes,  Lord,  we  heard  it. 
We  got  it  by  heart."  "  Well,  did  you  go  ?  "  "  We  didn't  go  very  far." 
"  How  far  did  you  go  ?  Did  you  cross  over  the  State  ?  "  "  No,  wo 
didn't ;  we  live  in  a  large  State — we  couldn't  get  across."  "  Did  you 
cross  the  county  ?  "  "  No,  we  didn't  cross  the  county."  "  Did  you  go 
to  the  end  of  the  street  you  live  in  ?  "  "  No,  Lord ;  our  street  was  the 
longest  one  in  the  town.  We  didn't  get  to  the  end  of  it."  "  How  about 
that  family  that  moved  in  right  across  the  street  a  few  months  ago  ? 
Did  you  ever  invite  them  to  your  Sunday  school  ?  "  "  Well,  Lord,  we 
intended  to  do  so.  We  started  several  times  ;  but  if  you  will  give  us 
one  more  day  we  will  take  the  Gospel  to  them."  Christ  says,  "  Go 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creatiu-e."  The 
Christian  has  been  as  slow  to  go  as  the  unconverted  has  been  to  come. 
Jt  seems  to  me  we  have  been  very  slow  in  obeying  that  command — "  Go 
ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel." 

I  am  told  somebody  asked  Lord  Salisbury  how  long  it  would  take 


Sunday  School  Convention.  221 

the  British  Government  to  carry  a  personal  message  from  the  Queen 
of  England  to  every  living  person  on  earth,  and  after  thinking  for  a 
moment  Lord  Salisbury  said  :  "  The  British  Government  could  carry 
a  personal  message  from  the  Queen  to  every  living  being  in  eighteen 
months."  And  some  of  you  know  very  well  tbat  the  great  Britisii 
Government  took  a  complete  census  of  India  in  a  single  day.  And 
there  has  been  nearly  1900  years  since  Jesus  Christ  said  to  tlio 
Church :  "  Go  into  all  the  world  and  carry  My  message  to  them." 
And  yet  while  I  stand  here  to-day  speaking  to  you,  to  every  tick  of 
my  watch  some  poor  lost  soul  goes  down  into  a  hopeless  grave  never 
having  heard  the  personal  message  of  Jesus  Christ  because  we 
Christians  have  been  so  slow. 

In  the  United  States,  out  of  every  hundred  persons  we  have  about 
twenty-five  who  are  active  Church  members,  or  rather  belong  to  the 
Church.  We  call  ourselves  a  Christian  nation,  but  only  about  twenty- 
five  out  of  every  hundred  are  really  identified  with  the  Church. 
That  leaves  seventy-five  who  are  out.  I  find  no  place  in  the  Book 
where  we  are  commanded  to  tell  the  seventy-five  to  go  to  the  twenty- 
five,  but  it  makes  it  very  plain  that  the  twenty-five  are  to  go  to  the 
seventy-five  to  let  them  know  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It 
seems  to  me,  if  we  are  to  be  Christians,  it  is  time  for  us  to  be  working 
more  earnestly,  more  successfully  than  we  have  been  doing,  to  reach 
these  children  by  the  thousand. 

The  question  is.  How  can  we  do  it  ?  Answer :  Organize  our 
Christian  forces  and  (jo  after  the  masses.  We  can  never  reach  them 
by  'pulling  the  church  hell  on  Sunday.  The  bell  makes  sweet  music, 
but  it  is  a  very  poor  missionary !  There  is  nothing  in  its  brass  or 
silver  tones  that  will  convince  sinners  that  we  Christians  are  con- 
cerned about  their  souls.  If  we  want  them  to  believe  that  we  are,  we 
must  needs  go  and  tell  them  so.  "A  voice" — a  voice,  a  living,  loving 
Imman  voice,  not  a  "  sounding  brass,"  is  what  they  will  heed  when 
they  hear  it.  And  so  in  America  we  organise  our  Christian  forces, 
having  state,  county,  and  township  Sunday  school  associations,  inter- 
denominational in  character,  and  all  auxiliary  to  the  International 
Association,  which  we  look  upon  as  the  parent  of  all.  And  well  we 
may,  for  at  the  now  "historic"  meeting,  held  in  my  own  home, 
Indianapolis,  in  1872,  where  the  International  Association  was  born, 
and  where  the  ''  Uniform  Lesson  System  "  was  started,  not  one  word 
was  said  about  state  or  county  Sunday  school  associations  or  organiza- 
tions, while  now,  in  twenty-six  short  years,  every  province  in  Canada, 
and  every  state  and  territory  in  the  United  States,  save  two  of  each, 
has  an  "  Interdenominational  Sunday  School  Association,"  with  more 
or  less  of  the  counties  and  townships  organized  in  the  same  way,  the 
township  being  auxiliary,  and  reporting,  and  contributing  to  the 
county,  the  county  to  the  state,  and  the  state  to  the  International 
Association.  In  Indiana  every  county  and  80  per  cent,  of  the 
townships  are  thus  organized. 

[Making  use  of  the  blackboard  at  this  point,  Mr.  Meigs  showed  a 


222  World's  Third 

uumlKjr  of  concenfric  circles,  which  he  proceeded  to  fill  up  as  he  went 
along.  These  circles  represented  the  various  Sunday  school  associa- 
tions. The  outside  circle  ho  marked  "  International  Sunday  School 
Association,"  and  so  on  through  state,  county,  township  association, 
individual  school,  and  the  home  department,  until  in  the  inmost  circle 
he  put  a  mark  to  represent  the  lx)y.] 

Proceeding,  Mr.  Meigs  said:  All  this  macliinery  is  set  moving 
that  we  may  reach  that  boy.  Someone  says,  "  That  is  a  great  deal 
of  machinery  to  set  moving  just  to  reach  that  boy."  Ah,  my  friend, 
it  is  a  boy.  Imagine  it  is  your  boy,  and  then  you  will  think  he  is 
worth  saving  perhaps.  Now,  then,  let  us  set  this  machinery  at  work 
iu  order  that  it  may  reach  the  Ixiy.     I  want  the  church  here. 

There  is  the  church  (drawing  outside  the  circles  a  number  of 
churches).  One  is  called  Metliodist,  another  Presbyterian.  Here  is 
another  which  we  will  call  the  Congregational  Churcli.  And  I  might 
go  on  to  make  a  church  for  every  denomination.  Now  all  this 
machinery  over  in  our  country  is  put  to  work  in  order  that  M'e  may 
reach  that  boy  and  get  him  into  that  Sunday  school,  or  that,  or  that. 
We  don't  care  which  one  so  that  we  get  him.  And  we  not  only  want 
to  get  him  into  that  school,  but  we  want  to  make  that  school  such  a 
good  school  that  when  we  get  him  there  we  can  hold  him.  It  is  one 
thing  to  bring  in  new  scholars,  but  the  thing  is  to  hold  them  there, 
and  liy  this  association  we  propose  to  make  the  schcjol  so  attractive 
that  when  we  get  the  boy  one  Sunday  we  shall  have  him  the  next. 

We  see  it  is  too  far  from  the  International  Association  to  the  boy. 
Professor  Hamill  can't  reach  every  boy.  We  must  bo  heljicd  if  we 
want  to  get  at  him.  So  we  will  mark  the  next  circle  inside  the  outer 
one  "  State  Association."  Now  we  arc  getting  closer.  But  we  are 
not  near  enough  to  the  boy  yet  to  lay  our  hand  upon  him,  and  we 
cannot  save  him  till  we  do.  So  we  shall  have  to  get  some  help,  and 
must  go  a  little  way  closer  to  what  we  call  the  "  County  Association  " 
(marking  the  next  circle).  Now  we  will  get  right  to  the  door  of  his 
home  pretty  soon  if  we  get  on  with  this  organization.  The  State  I 
live  in  is  300  miles  long  and  150  wide,  and  it  contains  92  counties. 
Our  great  State  Sunday  School  Association  covers  all  this,  it  is 
inter-denominational,  and  we  hold  conventions.  But  even  the  counties 
are  some  of  them  40  or  50  miles  long.  They  are  divided  up  into  town- 
ships, and  each  township  is  sometimes  six  miles  square.  So  wc  are  too 
far  from  the  boy  yet.  We  must  get  nearer  with  our  organization,  so 
we  have  next  to  the  "  Township  Sunday  School  Association  "  (marking 
the  next  circle).  Wo  are  getting  close  to  the  home  now.  We  got 
the  best  workers  we  can  find  in  the  township  interested  in  that  boy. 
He  is  not  in  anybody's  Sunday  school,  but  we  are  not  yet  close 
enough.  We  can  hardly  hope  to  convert  him  in  a  township.  And  we 
get  a  little  closer  still  and  hero  we  have  (marking  another  circle) 
the  School.  Now  then,  we  have  got  the  school  pretty  close  to  him 
and  him  pretty  close  to  the  school,  and  we  want  to  get  him  in. 
But  you  see  there  is  one  more  circle,  and   this  if  wo  get  a  little 


Sunday  School  Convention.  223 

closer  to  his  heart  and  to  his  home,  and  that  ring  is  called  the  Home 
Department.  And  we  want  to  get  his  mother  interested  in  saving 
the  boy.  "We  think  that  his  mother  ought  to  be  our  best  assistant 
teacher,  and  by  getting  her  in  the  Home  Department,  we  may  get 
the  boy  into  the  Sunday  school  u^d  j'onder. 

Now,  friends,  there  is  the  organization.  There  are  the  wheels 
within  wheels,  and  they  go  round  in  order  that  they  may  help  us  to 
save  the  boys  by  the  thousand,  and  make  us  dissatisfied  if  we  find  we 
are  only  saving  them  by  the  hundred. 

All  these  separate  Sunday  school  associations  are  officered  by  the 
most  earnest,  wideawake,  aggressive  workers,  gathered  from  the  various 
Protestant  denominations,  and  each  association  holds  from  one  to  four 
(and  often  even  more)  conventions  and  institutes  during  the  year. 
These  institutes  have  come  to  be  regular  "  free  schools,"  and  I  may 
say  "  high  schools  "  for  learning  better  and  more  successful  methods 
of  Sunday  school  work.  You  can  see  at  once  what  "  organization  for 
evangelization,''  and  for  co-operation,  education,  stimulation  and 
agitation  means  in  America,  and  its  limitless  possibilities. 

These  organizations  furnish  you  "  two  good  hands  "  with  which  to 
"  reach  the  masses."  First,  the  good  right  hand,  "  S3'stematic  house 
to  house  visitation,"  and  the  equally  good  or  better  hand  called  the 
•'  home  department "  of  the  Sunday  school. 

If  you  have  got  your  county  or  township  thoroughly  organized,  it 
is  an  easy  matter  to  canvass  a  city  of  .50,000  people  in  a  single  day, 
going  into  every  house,  getting  the  names  and  ascertaining  how 
many  are  in  the  Sunday  school,  and  how  many  are  out,  how  many 
attend  church,  and  how  many  do  not,  how  many  Bibles  there  are 
in  the  home,  how  many  Christians  have  church  letters  laid  away  in 
the  old  family  Bible,  in  the  bureau  drawer,  lying  there  five  years, 
never  brought  out  since  they  came  to  the  town.  We  find  sometimes 
hundreds  of  these  church  letters  in  the  city  laid  away  and  moulder- 
ing because  the  Christian  people  have  not  gone  for  the  new  comers. 
We  canvassed  Port  Wayne  with  50,000  inhabitants.  One  pastor  said, 
"  It  is  a  surprise  to  me  how  many  people  that  move  to  Port  Wayne 
from  other  parts,  bring  church  letters,  and  when  they  get  here  they 
do  not  get  into  our  churches."  "  What  do  you  think  is  the  reason  ?  " 
"  Well,  you  must  remember,  brother,  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  religion 
in  this  country  that  won't  stand  transplanting."  That  may  be  true, 
but  I  never  saw  a  case  of  religion  in  my  life  that  would  not  stand 
cultivating.  Did  you  ?  And  so  when  we  get  out  to  house-to-house 
canvassing,  we  cultivate  religion  and  get  them  into  the  churches  on 
Sunday. 

That  is  one  good  hand.  And  the  other  good  hand  is  the  Home 
Department,  with  which  I  hope  you  are  all  well  acquainted.  No 
better  illustration  of  the  effectiveness  of  these  Sunday  school  associa- 
tions could  be  given  than  the  history  of  the  home  department  work  in 
many  of  our  States.  Let  me  mention  Indiana,  as  I  am  familiar  with 
the  work  there.    Four  years  ago  we  had  no  "  Home  Departments " 


224  World's  Third 

in  tlio  whole  state.  Three  years  ago  wo  hadn't  enough  to  "Report  " 
on;  Init  this  year  our  statistical  report  shows  018  schools  having  a 
Home  department,  with  an  enrolment  of  18,815  persona  who  have 
promised  to  study  the  International  Sunday  school  lesson  one  half- 
hour  or  more  every  week  in  their  homes,  who  for  some  reason  cannot, 
or  at  least  do  not,  attend  the  main  school.  All  this  is  the  direct  and 
iministakahle  result  of  association  work,  and  I  do  not  fear  to  predict 
that  within  five  years  every  Sunday  school  in  our  state  which  has  no 
"Home  Department"  will  l)e  ashamed  to  acknowledge  it,  just  as  all 
churches  are  now  ashamed  to  own  that  they  have  no  "  Christian 
Endeavour  "  or  "  Young  People's  "  society  of  some  name. 

Our  organization  has  done  a  great  deal  in  our  country  towards 
levelling  the  walls  that  stand  between  the  different  denominations. 
I  can  remember  very  well  when  the  walls  between  the  denominations 
of  the  churches  were  so  high,  in  the  little  town  I  lived  in,  that  there 
wasu't  a  ladder  in  the  whole  neighbourhood  high  enough  to  climb  to 
the  top  of  the  wall  and  look  down.  But,  thank  God,  the  walls  are  so 
low  now  that  we  can  walk  up  and  look  over,  and  can  say  "  God  bless 
you,  brother ;  how  is  the  Sunday  school  getting  on?  Did  you  come 
to  the  Ccmvention  ?  Anything  we  can  do  to  help  you  ?  "  "  Oh,  yes, 
I  was  at  your  Convention.  Wasn't  it  splendid  ?  "  It  is  bringing  down 
the  walls,  and  we  feel  more  like  brother  and  sister  than  before. 

Another  thing  it  is  doing  is,  it  is  broadening  the  views  of  a  great 
many  of  our  best  workers.  So  long  as  the  Sunday  school  teacher  con- 
fines himself  to  liis  own  little  school  and  his  own  denomination,  he 
does  not  get  high  enough  in  Sunday  school  work  to  see  over  the  wall 
of  his  own  denomination,  I  care  not  how  low  it  is.  Here  is  a  man,  a 
superintendent,  who  boasts  that  he  has  not  missed  a  Sunday  from  his 
post  in  fifty-two  Sundays.  "  I  was  at  my  post  fifty-two  Sundays  in 
the  year."  "  Were  you,  brother  ?  "  "  Yes,  I  would  be  ashamed  of  it 
if  I  was  absent."  "Do  you  suppose  you  can  know  what  is  the  front 
line  of  Sunday  school  work  if  you  never  go  into  any  other  Sunday 
school  ?  "  Oh,  yes,  that  Sunday  seho(jl  superintendent  who  is  at  his 
post  fifty-two  times  in  the  year,  certainly  he  is  tied  to  the  post,  but  he 
is  not  very  well  posted  on  Sunday  school  work.  "  How  are  you  getting 
on  in  your  Sunday  school  ?  Have  you  a  good  working  Sunday  school  ? 
Have  you  got  a  Home  Department  ?  "  "  What  is  that  ?  "  "  Do  you 
have  a  teachers'  meeting  ? "  "  No,  we  can't  get  them  together." 
"Any  house-to-house  canvassing?  "  "What  is  that?  "  He  is  posted, 
but  he  does  not  know  much.  As  long  as  he  is  in  that  one  denomina- 
tion you  will  hear  him  say,  "  The  Sunday  school  is  the  hope  of  our 
Church."  That  is  what  he  talks.  "  The  Sunday  school  is  the  hope  of 
our  Church."  Now  then,  you  organise  your  state,  and  put  him  into  the 
state  organisation,  and  you  will  have  him  going  a  little  further.  He 
will  get  up  a  little  higher,  and  he  will  say,  "  The  Sunday  school  is 
the  hope  of  the  Church  and  of  the  State."  Yes,  he  has  got  one  round 
higher.  The  Sunday  school  was  the  hope  of  his  Church ;  now  it  is 
the  hope  of  the  Church  and  of  the  State.     But  you  get  him  on  to  the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  225 

International  Sunday  School  Association  Committee,  and  so  he  -will 
meet  with  some  Christian  men,  the  leaders  of  the  Sunday  school  work, 
and  he  will  climb  higher,  and  come  home  and  say,  "  The  Sunday 
school  is  the  hope  of  the  Church  and  of  the  State  and  of  the  nation." 
He  has  broadened  his  view  now.  He  has  learned  something;  and 
those  of  us  who  have  learnt  that  the  Sunday  school  is  the  hope  of  the 
world  have  climbed  about  as  high  as  we  can  get  when  we  are  ready  to 
say,  "  The  Sunday  school  is  the  hope  of  the  Church,  the  State,  the 
nation,  and  the  world." 

That  is  what  inter-denominational  Sunday  school  work  is  doing  for 
us  people  in  America,  and  I  hope  and  pray  that  as  a  result  of  this 
Convention  similar  organisations  may  spring  up  all  over  the  world. 
I  have  always  heard  that  the  sun  never  sets  on  British  soil.  That  is 
a  proud  boast.  All  we  want  is  that  the  sun  should  never  set  on  the 
British  Inter-denominational  Sunday  School  Association.  Organise  the 
world  for  the  saving  of  the  world. 

Can  I  say  a  word  to  the  Sunday  school  teachers  here  ?  Can  I  help 
you  to  appreciate  your  calling  ?  There  are  three  things  that  every 
Sunday  school  teacher  needs  to  have.  Faith  in  God  is  one.  Abraham 
believed  God.  I  did  not  say  "  believed  in  God."  Abraham  believed 
God,  and  it  was  accounted  unto  him  of  righteousness.  Have  faitli  iu 
God.  Do  not  think  that  you  are  working  for  God.  That  is  pretty 
good.  It  sounds  better  to  say  "  I  am  working  with  God,"  and  that  is 
what  Paul  said.  Sunday  school  teacher,  have  faith  in  God,  that  He  is 
working  witli  and  through  you,  and  that  the  seed  you  sow  shall  not 
return  to  Him  void.  Have  faith  in  yourself,  have  faith  in  yourself. 
Ah,  we  used  to  sing  over  in  our  country,  "Oh,  to  be  nothing" 
— a  very  pretty  poetical  kind  of  a  sentiment,  and  all  right  in  some 
respects.  But  the  trouble  is  that  a  great  many  of  us  would  say,  "  Oh, 
to  be  nothing"  and  just  turn  in  ajid  do  nothing  for  the  next 
year.  I  want  some  one  to  write  a  song, "  Oh,  to  do  something."  They 
have  a  song  "Help  a  little,  help  a  little."  I  would  like  to  see  the 
man  that  wrote  that  hymn.  I  never  hear  it,  but  it  sounds  so  much 
like  "  Help  a  nickel,"  and  when  you  pass  the  old  collection  basket 
round  they  put  in  a  nickel,  and  think  they  have  done  enough  to  carry 
the  Gospel  to  perishing  millions. 

Did  you  ever  read  the  story  of  St.  Theresa  ?  She  was  one  of  a 
large  family,  full  of  health,  full  of  spirit,  full  of  the  world.  But  she 
came  under  deep  conviction  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  satisfy  heart 
and  soul  went  into  a  Catholic  convent,  and  for  years  read  her  prayer- 
book.  But  God  got  hold  of  her  and  she  of  God.  And  she  prayed 
direct  to  God,  and  in  a  marvellous  way  He  used  her.  She  got  the  idea 
of  starting  a  free  nunnery  for  the  education  and  support  of  Catholic 
nuns.  She  laid  her  plans  before  the  Church,  and  they  said,  "  No, 
you  could  not  do  that,  Theresa."  They  turned  her  away,  but  she 
brought  it  up  again.  It  was  her  darling  project  and  the  desire  of  her 
heart.  After  years  of  waiting,  she  went  again  to  the  same  high 
authorities  and  laid  her  plans  before  them.     They  said,  "  Theresa,  do 


226  World's  Third 

you  think  you  can  build  these  great  buildings  and  carry  out  work 
without  money  ?  How  much  have  you  ? "  "  Four  ducats."  "  What 
can  you  do  with  four  ducats  ? "  Her  answer  was,  "  Theresa  and 
four  ducats  are  indeed  nothing,  but  God  and  Theresa  and  four 
ducats  can  do  anything,"  and  she  started  and  maintained  sixteen  of 
these  institutions,  and  she  ran  them  on  faith.  Now,  she  did  not  say, 
"  God  and  four  ducats  can  do  anything."  She  might  have  said  it. 
She  said  "  God  and  Theresa  and  four  ducats  can  do  anything."  Oh, 
sister,  go  home  and  believe  that  you  can  do  something. 

Now,  lastly,  faith  in  God  and  faith  in  yourself.  What  about  that 
boy  ?  Have  faith  in  that  boy.  There  are  none  of  them  that  are  not 
worth  saving.  Do  you  think  that  boy  is  not  worth  saving  ?  He  is 
poor,  ignorant,  dirty,  and  his  father  and  mother  arc  worse.  Do  you 
think  he  is  not  worth  saving  ?  Ask  Jesus  Christ  if  he  is  worth  saving 
What  will  He  tell  you  ?  "I  died  for  you,  what  have  you  done  for  Mc  ? 
What  will  you  do  for  Me  ?  "     That  is  the  question. 

I  will  close  with  a  line  or  two  that  came  into  my  mind  as  I  was 
speaking  of  the  boys.  The  streets  are  full  of  them,  the  ways  are  full 
of  them.  Some  of  them  are  rough  looking,  diamonds  in  the  rough, 
some  of  them.  Some  of  the  greatest  men  did  not  give  promise  of 
much  in  their  boyhood.  Did  you  ever  see  a  diamond  in  the  rough  ? 
Would  you  know  one  if  you  picked  it  up  in  the  street  ?  One  that  had 
never  been  ground  aud  polished  ?  You  must  be  an  expert  to  know  a 
diamond  in  the  rough,  and  you  might  pick  it  up  and  throw  it  away  as 
worthless.     I  was  thinking  of  it  and  dropped  into  lines  like  these  : — 

"  A  diamond  in  the  rough  is  a  diamond  sure  enough. 
So  before  it  ever  sparkles  it  is  made  of  diamond  stuff; 
Of  course  someone  must  find  it,  or  it  never  will  be  found, 
And  then  someone  must  grind  it,  or  it  never  will  be  ground. 
But  when  it's  found  and  when  it's  ground  and  when  it's  burnished 

bright, 
That  diamond's  everlastingly  then  flashing  out  its  light ; 
Oh,  teacher  in  the  Sunday  school,  don't  say  'I've  done  enough,' 
That  worst  boy  in  your  class  may  be  a  diamond  in  the  rough. 
Perhaps  you  think  he's  grinding  you,  and  possibly  you're  right, 
But  it  may  be  you  need  grinding  to  burnish  you  up  bright." 

The  Chairman  :  This  matter  has  been  thought  of  such  very  great 
importance  by  the  Committee  and  that  there  would  be  many  who 
would  be  desirous  possibly  of  following  up  to  a  certain  extent  the 
result  of  the  inspiring  address  of  Mr.  Meigs.  He  is  here  now  to 
answer  any 

Questions 

and  give  any  information  in  the  way  of  starting  this  organisation, 
and  will  be  disappointed  if  you  do  not  make  full  use  of  the  next 
fifteen  minutes  in  obtaining  from  the  address  that  he  has  just  given 
the  best  information  as  to  any  details.     Mr.  Meigs  will  be  now  ready 


Sunday  School  Convention.  227 

to  give  you  answers  as  to  carrying  on  the  detail  of  this  class  work, 
of  which  you  see  he  is  a  perfect  master. 

A  Delegate  :  How  would  you  suggest  to  any  one  in  this  country 
to  work  up  the  house-to-house  visitation  in  any  given  district? 

Mr.  Meigs  :  You  must  first  be  assured  that  that  is  what  you  need, 
that  it  can  be  done,  and  that  with  God's  help  you  are  going  to  do  it. 
You  go  to  the  superintendents  and  ask  them  if  they  will  furnish  you 
with  a  certain  number  of  canvassers  who  will  make  a  general  canvass 
of  the  whole  township  to  get  the  names  of  all  and  their  ages,  and  find 
out  how  many  belong  to  a  Church  and  how  many  do  not,  how  many 
go  to  Sunday  school,  and  how  many  do  not.  This  must  be  explained 
to  the  different  schools,  and  then  a  meeting  must  be  called  of  repre- 
sentatives from  the  diiferent  schools.  Get  them  together  and  explain 
the  matter  till  they  get  to  see  tlie  need  of  it,  and  you  will  be  surprised 
to  see  how  many  will  answer  to  your  call  and  volunteer  to  go  on  a 
certain  day  to  canvass  the  city.  I  think  it  is  very  simple.  You  have 
got  to  have  some  printed  matter,  of  course.  You  must  have  for  every 
family  a  printed  slip  containing  tlie  questions  you  want  to  be 
answered.  But  they  cost  but  a  trifle.  And  when  you  get  your 
canvass  made,  let  your  visitors  come  back  to  a  central  place.  The 
chairman  of  the  committee  takes  the  slips  and  sorts  them  all  out. 
Here  is  a  Presbyterian  family,  here  a  Baptist,  here  a  Methodist,  here 
a  Congregationalist.  "  Ah,"  he  says,  "  I  didn't  know  there  was  a 
Congregationalist  in  the  whole  town."  Sort  them  all  out.  Take 
them  right  to  the  Methodists  and  to  other  denominations  and  say, 
"  There  is  the  name  of  every  family  in  the  town  that  belongs  to  your 
Church.  Now  you  know  where  to  go  to  do  your  visitorial  work." 
Distribute  them  in  that  way  among  the  pastors,  and  they  rise  to  the 
work  which  is  the  second  canvass,  with  the  object  of  bringing  these 
people  into  some  Church  or  Sunday  school. 

Mr.  KuTHERFORD  (Birmingham),  replying  to  a  delegate  asking  for 
leaflets  for  distribution  on  the  subject,  said :  If  you  write  to  the 
Sunday  School  Union  in  Birmingham  we  will  supply  you  with  the 
papers  that  were  used  in  the  canvass.  The  work  is  being  done  in  this 
country  largely  in  Sunday  School  Unions  and  Free  Church  Councils. 
We  started  it  in  Birmingham  five  3'ears  ago;  120,000  bouses  were 
visited.  We  do  it  every  year  in  Birmingliam  and  it  is  done  also  in 
many  other  parts  of  the  country.  I  represent  four  counties,  of  which 
Birmingham  may  be  considered  the  centre,  and  about  these  counties 
we  have  fifty  Township  Associations,  we  may  call  them,  and  every  one 
of  these  is  engaged  each  year  in  a  canvass  of  every  street. 

A  Delegate  :  I  should  like  to  ask  how  you  would  bring  the  church 
a  little  closer  to  the  boy  ? 

Mr.^MEiGS :  Well,  if  you  bring  the  boy  nearer  to  the  church  I  think 
you  will  do  it.  The  work  could  not  possibly  be  done  by  any  one 
denomination.     It  can  be  done  with  them  all  united. 

A  Delegate:  Do  you  recommend  the  appointment  of  a  lady 
visitor  ? 

Q  2' 


228  World's  Third 

Mr.  Meigs  :  I  do ;  for  the  Home  Department  aud  the  house  canvaas, 
to  do  visitation  work. 

A  Delegate  :  Does  that  obtain  in  America  ? 

Mr.  Meigs  :  Oh,  yes.  We  u.so  ladies  over  there  a  little  more  than 
you  do  here. 

A  Lady  Delegate  :  What  would  you  do  in  a  case  where  the  pastors 
were  not  united  in  the  work  ? 

Mr.  Meigs  :  Tliat  is  a  hard  question.  I  should  pray  to  God  that 
He  would  enable  me  to  bring  the  pastor  to  one  of  the  conventions, 
where  he  would  get  his  eyes  opened. 

A  Delegate  :  Do  you  send  your  visitors  in  twos  or  singly  ? 

Mr.  Meigs  :  Send  them  in  twos,  and  put  a  INIethudist  with  a  Baptist 
or  a  Presbyterian,  and  ttU  them  that  they  must  take  oft"  their  sectarian 
coats.  And  another  thing,  you  want  t(j  make  tliis  canvass  general. 
See  every  home.  Go  to  the  pastor's  house  and  get  the  names  of  his 
family,  so  that  when  you  come  down  to  the  sal(»m-kceper's  house  you 
can  say,  ''Every  house  in  this  town  is  being  canvassed  to-day."  I  got 
a  letter  from  the  northern  part  of  our  State  fnmi  a  pastor,  aud  he  said : 
"  We  are  going  to  canvass  in  a  couple  of  weeks.  I  write  for  informa- 
tion. There  is  one  church  that  will  not  join  in  with  us.  The  pastor 
will  not  have  anything  t(j  do  with  us.  It  is  a  Seventli-Day  Church, 
and  how  can  we  manage  to  pass  over  their  homes  ?"  I  wrote  back  : 
"  In  answer  to  your  question.  How  you  can  arrange  to  pass  over  the 
homes  of  those  who  will  not  join  you  in  this  work,  allow  me  to  remind 
you  that  the  Passover  took  place  away  down  in  Egypt,  and  it  is  our 
business  to  pass  iiito  not  over  the  houses." 

A  Delegate  :  Is  there  not  a  good  deal  of  prayerful  spiritual 
preparation  necessary  for  this  work  ? 

Mr.  Meigs  :  Our  definite  instructions  are  that  the  canvassers  meet 
together  in  the  church  at  nine  in  the  morning,  where  they  have  a 
little  prayer-meeting  before  starting.  We  do  not  know  very  much 
without  the  Lord.  We  do  not  know  how  to  reach  the  people,  and  we 
want  to  reach  the  people.  We  pray  that  He  will  open  their  hearts  to 
the  Spirit,  and  the  tones  of  our  voices  show  that  we  are  in  earnest. 
"Wilt  Thou  open  the  hearts  of  the  people  as  well  as  tlie  doors  of  the 
houses  as  we  enter?"  Oh,  yes, the  prayer-meeting  to  begin  with,  and 
the  praise-meeting  to  end  with.  And  you  will  find  when  you  come  to 
the  praise- meeting  some  canvasser  will  get  up  and  say,  "  This  has 
been  the  grandest  day  of  my  life,  and  if  you  canvass  next  year  I  shall 
be  there." 

A  Delegate  :  With  the  help  of  two  ladies  I  canvassed  a  district  of 
Port  Wayne,  and  the  ladies  expressed  their  delight  at  having  con- 
secrated themselves  to  the  work.  They  had  experienced  this  feeling 
even  more  than  in  connection  with  the  Christian  Endeavour  work. 

Mr.  Meigs;  We  call  it  a  Sunday  School  Association  ;  you  would  call 
it  a  Sunday  School  Union.  That  is  what  we  used  to  call  it ;  but  we 
have  learned  better.  Although  the  word  "  Union  "  is  a  good  one,  with 
us  Americans  in  the  United  States  especially,  wo  found  the  use  of  it 


Sunday  School  Convention.  229 

caused  trouble.  Wo  had  to  explain  that  uniou  did  not  mean  certain 
things.  They  said,  "It  means  that  you  are  trying  to  get  all  the 
denominations  to  unite."  They  said,  "  Count  me  out,  I  was  born  a 
Methodist  and  shall  always  be  a  Methodist."  We  had  to  explain  that 
it  didn't  mean  that  at  all.     So  wo  had  to  use  the  word  "Association." 

The  Chairman  :  I  have  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  with  the  lady 
friend  who  asked  the  question  as  to  when  there  was  a  divergence  of 
opinion  among  the  pastors,  what  steps  should  be  taken  ?  I  think  that 
is  worth  a  little  consideration,  and  I  may  just  make  a  suggestion  to 
you  which  has  been  tried  and  tested  and  proved.  And  it  is  this,  in 
very  many  cases  there  is  more  of  supposed  divergence  of  opinion  than 
is  actually  existing.  And  I  believe  that  in  many  cases  in  which  we 
suppose  that  there  is  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  the  ministers  and 
the  church  to  work  together,  if  you  would  only  go  down  and  visit  the 
l^laces  of  woe  and  of  want  and  of  dissipation,  and  go  to  that  minister 
and  visit  him  in  his  study  and  represent  that,  and  ask  him  to  kneel 
down  with  you  and  pray  over  the  matter,  that  you  will  find  you  have 
won  a  person  who  will  work  with  you.  I  think  that  we  do  the  church 
a  good  deal  of  wrong  in  very  frequently  saying  that  we  cannot  get 
our  ministers  to  work  together,  when  we  have  not  gone  and  reasonably 
ascertained  what  they  will  do. 

The  hymn  "  Disciples  of  Jesus  "  was  sung,  and  the  proceedings  were 
brought  t(j  a  close  with  the  Benediction,  which  was  pronounced  by 
Count  Bernstorff. 


230  World's  Third 


FOURTH  DAY.— ELEVENTH  SESSION. 
Friday  Afternoon. 

There  was  a  song  sei-vice  for  the  first  half  hour,  viz.,  from  2  to  2.30 
consisting  of — 
Anthem — "  Sleepers,  wake !  " 

Hymn,  No.  37 — "  O'er  the  gloomy  hills  of  darkness." 
Part  Song — "  Early  Spring." 
Hymn,  No.  38 — "  Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  " 
Anthem — "  Jubilate." 

SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TRAINING. 

After  the  hymn 

"  A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God  " 

(the  grand  hymn  of  Luther),  had  been  sung,  prayer  was  offered  by 
the  Rev.  Edwin  O.  Coleman. 

The  President  :  A  warm  afternoon  in  the  month  of  July  is  not 
conducive  to  good  listening,  and  you  will  try  this  afternoon  to  carry 
out  Dr.  Parker's  admonition  yesterday,  and  see  if  we  cannot  subdue 
the  flesh  (laughter)  and  try  to  get  the  mastery  of  it,  especially  after 
luncheon.  Tlie  advice  I  always  give  to  my  friends,  the  London 
Sunday  scliool  teachers,  is  that  they  should  not  eat  too  much  pudding, 
and  that  for  afternoon  teaching  they  should  take  a  light  meal. 
(Laughter,  and  hear,  hear.)  Mr.  Sindall,  a  most  active  worker  in 
normal  classes,  and  one  of  our  best  men  in  London,  is  not  able  to  bo 
with  us.  Mr.  Webster,  who  is  engaged  in  similar  work,  will  read  Mr. 
Sindall 's  pajjer. 

NORMAL  CLASSES  AND  INSTITUTES. 
By  Mr.  Alfred  Sindall  (London),  read  by  Mr.  Webster. 

I  have  unwillingly  consented  to  appear  as  the  writer  of  a  paper  on 
"  Normal  Classes  and  Institutes  "  because  I  am  conscious  that  I  can 
add  nothing  to  what  is  already  known  and  can  make  but  few 
Buggestioue.    Most  of  us  have  our  ideals ;  it  is  easy  to  theorise,  and  as 


Sunday  School  Convention.  231 

easy  to  offer  counsels  of  perfection ;  but   the   means  of  reaching  a 
desirable  end  are  not  at  once  to  be  compassed. 

What  we  desii-e  and  hope  for  is  that  the  work  of  religious  instruction 
shall  be  performed  by  teachers  who  are  well  equipped,  not  only  with 
fervour  and  piety,  but  with  a  mental  training,  which  shall  make  them 
as  efficient  as  the  qualified  teachers  in  our  day  schools.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  is  beyond  discussion,  yet  the  officers  of  our  churches — 
nay,  even  the  officers  and  Committees  of  the  Sunday  schools  them- 
selves— are  not  yet  awake  to  it.  Understand  I  only  speak  of  things  in 
our  own  little  island.  Therefore  I  must  content  myself  with  a  brief 
account  of  wbat  we  have  been  able  to  do  in  London  and  with  the 
Sunday  School  Union  as  a  base  of  Operations. 

The  term  "  Normal  Class  "  has  been  a  little  imfortunate  in  some 
respects,  because  it  has  constantly  needed  explanation,  instead  of 
carrying  its  meaning  in  its  utterance.  When  we  recognise,  however, 
that  "  Normal "  signifies  what  has  to  do  with  rules,  we  see  that  the 
proper  object  of  a  Normal  class  is  to  instruct  its  students  in  the 
principles  and  rules  of  their  work  ;  in  other  words,  the  theory  of 
teaching,  accompanied  as  far  as  possible  by  practical  demonstrations. 

The  ^^ Normal  Class"  of  the  Sunday  School  Union  has  been  in 
existence  about  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Its  present  conductor  has 
had  it  under  his  charge  for  just  twenty  years.  Of  course  it  is  only 
the  outcome  of  the  persistent  efforts  of  yet  earlier  workers.  But  this 
is  not  the  time  or  place  to  do  more  than  briefly  acknowledge  their 
labours,  which  prepared  the  way  for  what  we  can  do  now. 

The  Session  of  the  class  begins  each  year  in  September,  and  closes 
before  Christmas,  giving  twelve  or  thirteen  weekly  meetings.  The 
subjects  dealt  with  might  fairly  occupy  a  much  longer  period ;  and 
indeed  in  the  earlier  years  a  six  months'  session  was  held  ;  but 
experience  of  our  London  teachers  has  shown  that  the  many  calls 
upon  their  lime  interfered  very  much  with  their  attendance  ;  and  the 
session  was  accordingly  shortened,  with  the  result  of  considerably 
improving  the  average  attendance. 

Tlie  Syllabus. — The  shortness  of  the  course  renders  it  necessary  to 
abridge  and  condense.  All  the  conductor  endeavours  to  do  is  to 
illustrate  and  enforce  the  principles  and  rules  laid  down  in  the  text- 
book, which  the  class  study  at  leisure  in  their  own  homes.  For  some 
years  past  this  text-book  has  been  the  excellent  "  Manual  "  written  by 
our  friend  Mr.  W.  H.  Groser,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  movement. 
As  a  copy  of  the  syllabus  for  1897  is  in  the  hands  of  the  present 
audience,  it  is  sufficient  to  mention  that  it  embraces  a  consideration  of 
the  mental  and  moral  natures  and  facidties ;  the  characteristics  of  the 
Bible  as  an  instrument  of  religious  instruction  ;  different  methods  of 
imparting  knowledge ;  and  some  items  of  school  discipline  and 
organisation. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Prospectus  for  the  1897  course. 


232  World's  Third 


NORMAL  CLASS  FOE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TEACHERS  AND 
OTHERS. 

NINETEENTH   SESSION,    1897. 

Conductor Afr.  ALFRED  SINDALL. 

TO  HE  HELD  IN  THE  LECTURE  HALL,  56,  OLD  BAILEY,  E.C., 
ON  THURSDAY  EVENINGS,  AT  8  P.M. 

The  FORMAL  CLASS  is  specially  designed  to  give  an  insight  into  the 
PiliNCii'LES  OF  RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION  AND  TRAINING.  The  Course  is 
short,  the  Lectures  popular  in  style,  and  the  Fee  merely  nominal  (less 
than  the  value  of  the  books  given  to  each  Member)  ;  and  it  may  be  added 
that  the  experience  of  former  Members  is  uniform  as  to  the  benefit 
derived  from  their  attendance. 

One  advantage  of  such  training  is  that  the  single  course  of  study,  if 
earnestly  and  thoughtfully  followed,  is  sufficient  as  an  introduction  to 
right  methods,  and  an  encouragement  to  strive  after  further  efficiency  in 
every  detail.  It  will  need  little  argument  to  show  how  much  better 
would  be  the  condition  of  our  Sunday  schools  if  all,  or  even  a  fair 
majority,  of  our  Teachers  honestly  followed  the  principles  essential  to  all 
sound  religious  education.  Our  Scholars  would  then  be  better  able  to 
give  an  intelligent  summary  of  the  Christian  faith ;  the  whole  tone  of  our 
schools  would  be  improved  beyond  measure ;  and,  by  the  blessing  of  Gotl, 
far  greater  spiritual  results  would  follow. 

The  Lecture  each  evening  will  be  illustrated  by  Blackboard  outlines, 
and,  as  far  as  ])0ssible,  by  reference  to  the  International  Lesson  of  the 
following  Sunday. 

Terms  of  Membership. — Teachers  and  other's  in  connected  schools. 
Is.  each ;  in  unconnected  schools,  2s.  each.  Each  Member  will  be 
supplied  with  the  Class  Text  Book  (the  "  Sunday  School  Teachers' 
Manual,"  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Groser,  B.Sc.)  and  a  Book  for  taking  Notes. 

Persons  desirous  of  becoming  Members  are  requested  to  send  the 
annexed  form  duly  filled  up,  with  the  Entrance  Fee  in  stamps  or  postal 
order,  to  the  Secretary.  Members  will  also  be  enrolled  at  the  first  and 
second  meetings  of  the  Class,  but  application  beforehand  is  desirable. 

Visitors  will  be  welcome  without  charge  for  admission. 

N.B. — The  Services  of  the  Conductor  arc  entirely  gratuitous. 

All  communications  to  be  addressed  to — 

J  AS.  S.  CROWTIIER, 

Jlon.  Secretary  to  Training  and  Examination  Committee^ 

56,  Old  Bailey,  E.C. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  233 

SYLLABUS  OF  THE  COURSE  OF  LECTURES,  1897. 

I. — September  IGifi. 

Introductory.  The  Sphere  and  the  "Worker. — The  Sunday  School : 
what  are  its  essential  features  ?  Its  place  among  Church  Ministries. 
Common  misapprehensions.  The  Teacher's  Ministry ;  its  specific 
nature  and  object.  Three  Essential  Qualifications,  viz. :  a  Right 
understanding  of  (a)  the  Truth  to  be  communicated  ;  (b)  the  Nature 
of  the  Scholar — mental,  moral,  and  spiritual ;  (c)  the  Principles  and 
Methods  of  Instruction.  Shadow  and  Sunshine. — Read  Manual, 
ch.  1  &  2. 

U.— September  23rd. 

The  Truth  to  be  Taught. — The  Bible,  the  Sunday  School  Teachers'  Text- 
book. Its  unique  Character.  Its  fitness  as  an  Instrument  of 
Education.  The  Study  of  the  Bible  with  a  view  to  Sunday  School 
Instruction.  The  "International  System:"  its  scope,  limits,  and 
objects.  Outside  Helps.  Books  of  Reference.  The  Book  of  Nature. 
Scripture  Difficulties. — Ch.  3  &  8. 

lU.—Se2}temher  30th. 

The  Pupil— What  is  Mind  ?  The  Mental  Powers  Classified.  Tlie  Senses 
as  "  Gateways  of  Knowledge."  The  Infant  ;  the  Child  ;  the  Youth  ; 
or,  the  three  stages  of  growth. — Ch.  4  &  6. 

JV.—October  7th. 

The  Thinking  Powers. — Perception.  Attention  :  how  to  gain  and  keep 
it.  Memory :  indispensable  to  all  true  Instruction :  how  to  be 
developed.  Learning  by  rote.  Recollection.  Imagination. — Ch. 
4&  6. 

Y.— October  Uth. 

The  Thinking  Powers. — Judgment  and  Reason.  Aids  to  Faith  and  Foes 
to  Error.  Juvenile  "  Scepticism."  Teaching  the  Scholars  to  think 
for  themselves. — Ch.  4  &  6. 

Yl.— October  21st, 

The  Moral  Powers. — Conscience  and  Will.  The  "Candle  of  the  Lord." 
Right  and  Wrong.  Emotions  and  Impulses.  Habits.  The  Teacher's 
Work  in  Training  and  Controlling.  Importance  of  Conviction  and 
Devotion  on  the  part  of  the  Teacher. — Ch.  5  &  7. 

Yll.— October  28th. 

Principles  and  Methods. — Principles  of  Instruction  few  and  simple,  but 
invariable,  and  all-important.  Methods  change  and  develop,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances.  Classification.  Examples  and  uses  of  each 
kind.  Eye-teaching,  Pictures,  Objects,  Blackboard,  Kindergarten 
Exercises.— Ch.  9  &  10. 


234  World's  Third 

VIII. — November  ith. 

Methods  (continued). — Illustrative  Teaching :  Teaching  by  Questions. 
All  at  work ;  all  helping.— Ch.  9  &  10. 

IX. — November  llth. 

How  to  Prepare  a  Lesson. — General  Rules.  The  Teacher  in  his  Study. 
Three  kinds  of  Scripture  Lessons.     Examples  of  each,  with  special 

Hints.— Ch.  11.   -  „  . 

...  X.— November  ISth. 

How  to  Sketch  a  Lesson. — Rough  Notes.  Construction  of  a  Lesson, 
Narrative,  Doctrinal,  Figurative.     Written  Outlines. — Ch,  11. 

XI. — November  2oth, 

In  the  Class. — The  Real  and  the  Ideal  Class.  Language,  Style,  Treatment 
of  the  Class.  Essentials  of  a  Successful  Lesson.  The  Presence  and 
Help  of  the  Great  Teacher.     Promised  Wisdom  and  Strength. — Ch.  12. 

XII. — December  2nd. 

Class  Discipline  and  Management. — Order.  Rewards  and  Punishments. 
Infant,  Middle,  and  Senior  Classes,  their  different  requirements. 
The  Teacher's  relationships  (a)  to  his  Scholars  ;  (6)  to  his  Fellow- 
Teachers  and  the  Church.  Rights  and  duties.  Work  for  all. 
Time  and  Strength  saved  and  power  gained. — Ch.  13  &  14. 

December  9th. 

Examination, — (N.B. — Attendance  quite  optional.) 

December  16th. 

Social  Meeting  of  the  Class. — Music  and  Refreshments.  7  p.m. — 
9.30  p.m. 

Conditions  of  memhership. — No  restriction  whatever  is  made  as  to 
membership  of  the  class.  Any  one,  whether  a  teacher,  senior  scholar, 
or  not,  is  eligible,  the  only  condition  being  an  agreement  to  attend  as 
regularly  as  possible,  and  the  payment  of  a  nominal  fee  of  one  shilling 
for  the  course.  As  each  student  receives  a  note-book  and  the  class 
manual  (a  half-crown  book)  it  will  be  seen  that  membership  of  the 
class  is  not  an  expensive  luxury,  nor  can  the  class  itself  be  in  a 
monetary  sense  self-supporting,  though  there  is  of  course  no  professor's 
fee  to  pay.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  students  willingly  do  what 
work  is  required  during  the  session,  such  as  the  duties  of  organist, 
registrar,  and  secretary. 

Our  Method  of  conducting  the  meeting  is  as  follows.  Begin 
punctually  at  8  p.m.  with  a  hymn,  followed  by  a  brief  prayer  by  one 
of  the  class,  and  the  simultaneous  repetition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
then  a  short  passage  of  Scripture  bearing  on  the  subject  of  the  evening. 
Five  minutes  or  so  are  then  occupied  in  making  announcements  and 
answering  questions  from  the  box.  These  duties  take  up  about  fifteen 
minutes  in  all.     A  lecture  of  forty-five  or  fifty  minutes  follows — 


Sunday  School  Convention.  235 

always  fully  summarised  on  the  blackboard ;  then  a  hymn  and  closing 
prayer,  so  that  the  students  can  all  be  out  of  the  building  by  9.15  p.m. 
if  they  please.  A  question  box  is  always  available  for  written  queries 
and  suggestions. 

We  have  been  rigidly  punctual  in  beginning.  In  twenty  years  we 
have  held  nearly  400  meetings,  and  liave  been  late  three  times  in  all, 
once  five  minutes,  and  twice  about  half-a-minute.  AVe  have  been  as 
punctual  in  closing :  those  who  have  trains  to  catch,  and  cannot  wait 
till  the  end,  sit  near  the  door  so  as  not  to  disturb  their  fellows  in 
leaving.  The  consequence  is  that  late  coming  of  tlie  students  is 
almost  unknown,  except  in  a  very  few  cases  whose  reasons  are 
admitted.  Further,  I  think  that  the  schools  in  which  the  students  are 
at  work  on  the  Sunday  receive  a  reflex  advantage  from  this  attempt 
at  discipline.  The  conductor  is  thought  fidgety  and  even  fussy  on 
this  point,  but  punctuality,  like  wisdom,  is  justified  of  her  children. 

Composition  of  the  Class. — The  majority  of  the  members  are  young 
people  engaged  in  the  City.  Nearly  all  of  them  are  teachers  actually 
at  work.  We  do  not  find  that  senior  scholars  as  a  rule  see  the  neces- 
sity, or  recognise  the  duty,  of  preparing  themselves  for  the  teachers' 
seat.  The  moral  of  this  for  school  officers  and  church  authorities 
seems  sufSciently  obvious. 

Further,  it  is  the  teachers  who  are  most  in  earnest  who  are  most 
ready  to  undertake  the  attendance  and  study.  The  problem  how  to 
rouse  the  self-sufficient  and  dilettante  teacher  has  yet  to  be  solved ; 
this  is  another  riddle  for  the  school  and  church  officers. 

Adjuncts  of  the  Class. — Many  of  the  students  engaged  in  City  duties 
are  at  liberty  earlier  than  eight  o'clock.  To  such  tlie  library  and 
reading  room  are  open,  and  in  addition  a  preliminary  meeting  is  held 
at  7.15  P.M.,  which  is  attended  by  a  good  proportion  of  the  members. 
The  subjects  dealt  with  at  these  preliminary  meetings  are  not  neces^ 
sarily  on  Sunday  school  toi^ics,  but  their  choice  is  left  to  the  friends 
who  are  good  enough  to  assist ;  and  their  addresses  have  always  been 
of  considerable  interest  and  value.  The  conductor  feels  that  it  is  well 
to  encourage  the  students  to  widen  their  views  of  things ;  since,  while 
piety  and  religious  devotion  are  the  first  requisites,  any  increase  of 
mental  vision  and  intellectual  grasp  is  incalculably  valuable. 

The  following  are  the  subjects  treated  in  the  1897  course  : — 

Sept.  23. — Kev.  T.  Dixon  Kutherford,  M.A.  (Stoke  Newington). 
"  Education  of  Jewish  Children  in  the  time  of 
Jesus." 

„    30.— W.  H.  Groser,  Esq.,  B.Sc.  (Hon.  Sec.  S.S.U.).     "  Get- 
ting the  Lesson  ready." 
Oct.    7. — Samuel  Watson,  Esq.     "  The  Teacher's  Poets." 

„    14. — Devotional  Meeting,  in  preparation  for  the  Days  of 
Prayer. 

„    21.— Rev.  W.  J.  Mills  (Walworth).   «  Can  we  trust  the  Old 
Book?" 


236  World'R  Third 

Oct.  2H. — H.    T.   TowELt-,    Esq.   (Taunluii).      "The   Teacher's 

Three  A's." 
Nov.    4. — llev.    John    Lewis    (Brockley).      ''  The     Teacher's 
Ambition." 
„     11.— F.  F.  Belsey,  Esq.,  J.P.  (Chairman  S.S.U.).    "The 

Teacher's  I's." 
„     18. — Mrs.    T.    Benham    (Hon.   Sec.    Ladies'   Committee). 

"  Work  outside  the  School." 
„    25. — E.   Toweks,  Esq.   (S.S.U.  Council).     "Next  Sunday's 
Lesson." 
Dec.    2. — Rev.  G.  E.  Weeks,  M.A.  (Brockley).     "  Christ  as   a 
Personal  Worker." 

An  Examination  is  held  at  the  concluaiou  of  the  Session,  attendance 
at  which  is  entirely  optional.  As  a  rule,  only  about  one-third  of  the 
number  submit  themselves  to  this  ordeal.  We  have  thought  it  wise 
not  to  iusist  too  strongly  on  the  point,  altliough  it  is  most  desirable  for 
their  own  sake  that  all  members  should  test  their  knowledge  of  the 
subject  they  have  been  studying.  Of  course  the  usual  certilicates  and 
some  prizes  are  given  to  those  who  pass;  and,  it  may  be  added,  there 
are  very  few  failures.  The  certificate  counts  as  a  pass  in  the  Sunday 
School  Union  Examination  in  the  Principles  and  Art  of  Teaching. 

Tlie  Blacliboard. — It  has  always  been  found  that  the  constant  use  of 
the  blackboard  is  a  very  great  help  to  leader  and  class  alike,  both  for 
outlining  the  salient  points  of  the  lecture,  and  for  illustrating  by  such 
sketches  as  may  be  appropriate.  It  is  not  only  an  aid  to  the  attention 
and  memory,  but  a  useful  guide  to  the  students  in  making  their  own 
notes.     Of  course  maps  and  other  visible  illustrations  are  freely  used. 

Students^  Notes  and  Outlines. — The  members  of  the  class  are  desired 
to  make  notes  freely,  and  transcribe  them  more  fully  at  home.  Some 
of  these  outlines  are  afterwards  sent  to  the  conductor  of  the  class  for 
examination,  and  are  an  invariable  source  of  gratification  to  him  ;  not 
to  say  that  sometimes  his  eyes  are  opened  to  indications  of  vagueness 
or  inaccuracy  on  his  own  part :  a  useful  discipline. 

Limitations. — It  will  have  been  evident  that  what  we  do  in  our 
Central  Normal  Class  only  covers  a  part  of  the  ground.  It  is  concerned 
almost  entirely  with  theory,  for  the  time  at  our  disposal  does  not 
admit  of  jjractical  demonstrations.  Nor  are  we  able  more  than 
casually  and  incidentally  to  touch  on  such  subjects  as  Christian  Evi- 
dences or  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  Council  of  the 
Sunday  School  Union  are  aiming  at  a  more  complete  curriculum  in 
connection  with  the  Wednesday  Evening  Training  Class,  which  will 
make  it  possible  for  teachers  to  pursue  their  studies  in  this  direction. 

Local  Classes. — For  reasons  just  stated  this  Central  Class  is  not  a 
model  for  imitation  elsewhere. 

If  a  class  were  held  in  any  particular  school,  om  the  Sunday,  for  the 
senior  scholars  or  junior  teachers  of  that  school,  it  woidd  possess 
special  advantages :  for  example — ■ 


Sunday  School  Convention.  237 

1.  The  possibility  of  securing  regular  attendance  during  a  longer 
period,  so  that  the  course  could  embrace  a  larger  number  of  subjects, 
and  these  could  be  dealt  with  in  greater  detail. 

2.  Of  giving  demonstrations  with  classes  of  scholars  taught  by  or 
in  presence  of  the  students. 

3.  Greater  ease  in  securing  the  attendance,  and  thus  the  training  of 
our  senior  scholars. 

It  will  be  found  that  wherever  a  Normal  or  Training  Class  is  held, 
the  attendants  are  almost  exclusively  teachers  actually  at  work.  Few 
senior  scholars  are  so  alive  to  the  character  of  the  work  of  religious 
instruction  as  to  be  anxious  or  even  willing  to  undergo  a  course  of 
training  which  at  first  sight  seems  to  be  uninteresting,  not  to  say 
needlessly  exacting. 

The  Conductor  and  his  Work. — Local  circumstances  must  determine 
the  kind  of  syllabus  put  before  the  students.  It  is  doing  no  injustice 
to  our  teachers  to  say  that  a  large  proportion  of  them  have  had  no 
special  educational  advantages.  In  the  agricultural  districts  this  is 
markedly  the  case ;  yet  I  can  say  from  personal  experience  that  the 
least  favoured  are  often  the  most  earnest,  and  the  most  eager  to  im- 
prove themselves.  A  man  of  the  highest  intellect,  if  his  nature  is 
appreciative  and  sympathetic,  will  find  his  audience,  however  humble, 
not  only  receptive,  but  thankful  for  help ;  and  the  giving  of  that  help 
to  others  will  be  a  joy,  an  uplifting,  and  an  enrichment  of  his  own 
spirit.  I  shall  be  met  with  the  objection,  that  persons  competent  to 
train  others  in  such  a  direction  are  very  few.  This  supposition  pro- 
ceeds from  a  misunderstanding  of  what  is  really  required.  It  is  not 
brilliancy,  or  scholarship,  that  are  the  first  essentials ;  it  is  first  a 
desire  to  glorify  God  and  serve  Christ  by  helping  others,  then  a  fair 
amount  of  intelligence  and  common  sense,  an  acquaintance  with  the 
principles  of  Sunday  school  work,  and  patience  and  love  for  the 
children. 

It  may  further  be  said  that,  although  such  a  leader  is  desirable,  it 
is  quite  possible  for  two  or  more  teachers  without  a  leader  to  join  to 
study  the  text-book  and  render  mutual  help  in  their  self-training. 

Normal  Institutes. — I  must  frankly  say  that  I  am  not  able  to 
propound  any  special  theory  of  what  is  feasible  in  what  I  suppose  is  a 
more  exteubive  movement  than  the  unpretentious  "class."  Here  I 
look  for  light  to  the  Land  of  the  Setting  Sun,  or  the  untrammelled 
and  vigorous  Antipodes.  Still  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  if  every 
school  or  group  of  schools  had  its  periodical  session  for  the  study  of 
the  science  and  art  of  teaching ;  if  occasionally  the  students  of  such 
classes  met  for  mutual  intercourse,  and  if  regularly  at  the  close  of  the 
sessions  examinations  were  held,  a  benefit  would  be  conferred  on  our 
schools  not  easy  to  be  estimated. 

Undoubtedly  the  movement  is  capable  of  indefinite  development, 
and  in  many  of  our  provincial  centres  eftbrts  more  or  less  successful 
have  been  made  to  help  teachers  in  their  self-training.  Clashes,  not 
only  for  the  study  of  principles,  but  for  their  demonstration  in  actual 


238  World's  Third 

work,  are  held  here  and  there :  lectures  are  delivered  both  on  the 
technical  details  of  our  work,  on  various  aspects  of  Holy  Scripture, 
and  of  the  evidences  of  Cliristianity.  The  latest  undertaking  of  the 
Sunday  Scliool  Union  has  been  the  preliminary  examination,  intended 
chiefly  for  the  younger  teachers  and  senior  scholars.  In  addition  to 
this  the  Sunday  School  Clironicle  has  done  good  service  with  its  prize 
lessons  and  correspondence. 

Still  all  the  oiVorts  that  have  been  made  have  but  touched  the 
fringe.  After  deducting  the  wliole  number  that  have  seriously 
studied  the  principles  of  tlieir  work,  either  in  private  or  in  common, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  the  great  majority  have  never  considered  the 
"  Why "  and  '•  How."  Here  we  are  face  to  face  with  certain 
difficulties  which  have  been  bemoaned  again  and  again.  How  are 
we  going  to  make  our  teachers  feel  their  responsibilities  ?  The 
answer  seems  to  be  that  the  onus  rests  upon  the  churches.  It  is  their 
duty,  not  only  to  provide  funds,  buildings,  aud  apparatus,  but 
workers,  qualified  as  fully  as  possible,  and  appointed  with  as  much 
solemnity  as  the  ministers  and  otficcrs  of  the  churches  themselves. 
In  only  a  very  few  cases  is  this  responsibility  felt  and  recognised : 
yet  in  most  of  them  the  Sunday  school,  with  all  its  imperfections  so 
candidly  criticiseil,  is  the  chief  feeder  and  strength  of  the  membership. 

Gradual  progress. — There  are  not  wanting  signs  of  progress  which 
may  give  encouragement.  We  are  far  from  our  goal,  yet  we  are 
approaching  it,  even  if  by  slow  steps.  More  and  more  the  need  of 
training  is  being  recognised,  aud  sympathy  with  earnest  workers  is 
proved  by  greater  willingness  to  render  active  help.  What  we  still 
lack  is  that  our  churches  and  school  officers  shall  not  only  encourage 
tlieir  workers  in  so  important  a  field  of  labour,  but  demaml  that  as  far 
as  iTOssible  they  shall  qualify  themselves  by  study  for  the  duties  they 
take  up. 

Mr.  A.  W.  Webster  (London),  having  read  Mr.  Sindall's  pnpcr, 
said,  "  I  may  draw  attention  to  the  fa^-t  that  additional  information 
respecting  a  scheme  by  which  senior  scholars  have  been  interested  in 
qualifying  themselves  for  teachers  and  have  been  trained  in  both  the 
lirineiples  and  theory  of  the  work  and  the  demonstration  of  it  as  well, 
will  be  found  at  the  end  of  a  paper  which  I  have  myself  written  on 
Sunday  schools  aud  public  institutions,  which  you  will  find  printed 
along  with  the  records  of  the  Convention.  Mr,  Sindall  puis,  as  a 
kind  of  conundrum  for  the  churches,  the  question,  What  are  we  to 
do  to  make  our  teachers  feel  their  responsibilities  ?  That  thought  has 
been  pressed  in  upon  my  mind  and  heart  for  some  time,  and  I  may  be 
permitted  for  a  moment  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  Convention  to  a 
scheme  which  I  introduced  into  the  church  I  was  associated  with,  and 
which,  I  believe,  luis  had  considerable  effect.  It  is  a  scheme  such  as 
would  impress  moral  responsibilities  more  deeply  into  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  tlie  teachers,  and  wherever  you  get  the  moral  responsibility 
to  be  more  keenly  felt,  you  arouse  an  activity  in  the  mind  for  mental 
work  of  a  higher  calibre  and  for  spiritual  work  of  a  higher  calibre 


Sunday  School  Convention.  239 

also.  There  ought  to  be  some  kind  of  dedication  service  connected 
with  every  church  for  dedicating  and  setting  apart  teachers  for  the 
work.  Do  not  wait  until  the  church  begins  to  move  in  the  matter. 
You  move  the  church.  It  is  left  to  you  as  a  Sunday  school  worker  to 
take  the  initiative.  I  no  sooner  brought  forward  a  resolution  that 
such  a  thing  should  be  established  than  the  church  unanimously 
granted  the  request,  and  it  was  carried  out.  A  covenant  was  handed 
to  the  teachers,  and  it  might  be  used  at  such  a  dedication  service,  a 
copy  of  it  having  been  previously  given  to  each  teacher. 
Mr.  "Webster  read  the  terms  of  the  covenant. 

AMERICAN    NORMAL    CLASSES. 
By  Pkofessor  Hamill  (Illinois,  U.S.A.). 

It  is  difficult  to  add  anything  to  the  excellent  paper  of  Mr.  Sindall. 
But  I  am  glad  that  the  Chairman  has  introduced  me  in  order  that  I 
may  refer  to  the  normal  class  work  that  is  2^Gculiar  to  our  AVestern 
lands,  because  it  gives  me  an  opportunity  of  acknowledging  that  we 
have  learned  a  great  deal  from  the  masters  in  normal  work  in  the 
City  of  London  and  in  the  country  of  England.  (Hear,  hear.) 
Mr.  Groser's  book  is  widely  used  throughout  the  United  States. 
(Hear,  hear.)  Indeed,  the  normal  idea  came  to  the  United  States 
about  twenty-five  years  ago  dii-ect  from  your  City. 

Our  normal  movement  is  spreading  wide.  For  a  time  it  was 
limited  to  the  mother  Chautauqua,  and  thousands  of  graduates  have 
gone  forth  from  that  now  ancient  and  much  honoured  alma  mater. 
By-and-by  the  denominations  severally  took  up  the  movement.  The 
Presbyterians,  always  foremost  in  every  good  work,  educationally  as 
well  as  cvangelistically,  erected  a  thorough  normal  course  of  study, 
including  several  things  peculiar  to  the  doctrine  of  that  Church  ;  and 
for  fifteen  years  they  have  been  carrying  forward  the  normal  move- 
ment. The  Congregational,  Methodist,  and  Baptist  Churches  in  the 
United  States  have  each  been  similarly  engaged ;  but  we  found 
by  careful  examination  in  our  Western  States,  particularly  in  Illinois, 
that  there  was  needed  a  more  powerful  stimulus  than  that  which 
came  from  the  denominational  normal  movement.  What  we  required 
for  our  workers  was  a  certain  prestige  which  only  could  come  from  an 
inter-denominational  movement ;  that  is  to  say,  a  diploma  of  gradua- 
tion, which,  while  it  would  have  a  certain  honour  attached  to  it  when 
coming  from  the  hands  of  a  denomination,  would  have  a  double  place 
in  honour  and  as  an  incentive  to  study,  if  it  came  from  a  league  of  all 
the  denominations.  And  so,  ten  years  ago,  in  the  State  of  Illinois, 
there  was  erected,  for  the  first  time  in  our  United  States,  a  normal 
department,  viz.,  the  Illinois  Sunday  School  Association.  That 
Association  has  ten  years  of  history.  At  Galesburg,  in  May  of  the 
present  year,  in  connection  with  our  Annual  State  Convention,  we 
announced  that  300  persons  had  graduated  during  the  past  year,  and 
now  we  have  altogether  1800  Illinois  graduates.     I  have  in  my  hand 


240  World'n  Third 

a  special  programme  of  tho  Illinois  Sunday  School  Association,  giving 
the  names  of  the  300  young  persons  who,  in  25  classes  or  more, 
were  graduated  during  the  year,  and  upon  whum  the  diploma  of  tho 
Legion  of  Honour  was  conferred  at  our  Annual  State  Convention. 

I  find  classes  from  small  towns,  from  rural  communities,  from  tho 
great  City  of  Chicago,  and  others  second  in  rank.  I  find  pastors  and 
many  others  in  charge  of  the  classes,  organising  them,  maintaining 
them,  and  conducting  them  to  a  successful  issue  in  graduation ;  and 
many  of  these  young  people  were  present  to  receive  the  honour  of  tho 
great  body. 

Now,  you  will  find  there  is  a  great  deal  of  interest  centred  upon  the 
method  of  our  Illinois  Sunday  School  Association,  Let  me  take  the 
last  page  of  this  little  souvenir  programme,  and  read  to  you  what  is 
said  there  respecting  the  Legion  of  Honour.  It  is  stated  :  "  The 
Legion  of  Honour,  originated  in  Illinois  in  1890  for  the  training  of 
Sunday  school  teachers,  includes  graduates  of  all  normal  classes : 
auxiliary  to  the  State  Sunday  School  Association  ;  diplomas  awarded 
by  State  Association  officers;  formally  adopted  in  many  States  and 
Provinces ;  post  graduate  course  of  two  years ;  Illinois  graduates 
number  1800."  We  have  a  special  course  in  tlie  State  of  Illinois, 
other  States  have  other  courses ;  we  honour  all  courses,  and  like  to 
teach  them  pari  ^wssw  in  our  State  Association.  At  our  Annual 
Graduating  E.xcrcises,  which,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  was  held 
this  year  in  May  at  Galesburg,  we  had  present  tlie  full  staflf ;  we  had 
on  the  platform  all  the  dignitaries  connected  with  the  Sunday  school 
work,  and  everything  we  can  bring  ti^gether  to  give  eclat  to  the  occa- 
sion. The  special  honour  to  the  graduates — i.e.  the  Legion  of  Honour 
— has  been  formally  adopted  by  many  States  and  Provinces.  "Within 
ten  years  not  less  than  thirty  of  the  States  of  our  own  conn trj',  and 
eight  of  the  Canadian  Provinces  out  of  the  ten,  have  adopted  tho 
Legion  of  Honour  movement,  which  means  that  the  inter-denomi- 
national Association  or  Union  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  giving 
special  emphasis  to  normal  work,  shall  issue  a  diploma  by  virtue  of 
their  giving  direction,  maintaining  examinations,  and  graduating  the 
scliolars. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  movement  we  had  grave  apprehensions  as 
1o  its  success.  The  great  question  we  liad  before  us  was  this :  How 
can  we  conduct  Normal  Classes  throughout  a  State,  in  the  little  town, 
in  the  far-away  country  hamlet,  in  the  great  city,  without  having  trained, 
expert,  normal  teachers  to  organise,  teach,  and  conduct  these  classes? 

We  have  succeeded.  I  hardly  could  give  you  the  reason.  It  is 
simply  a  fact;  and  I  call  your  attention  to  one  singular  thing.  There 
is  a  kind  of  evolution  which  I  am  free  to  believe  in.  II  you  put  a 
hundred  young  peoj)lc  into  one  room  and  keep  them  there  by  the 
clock  for  one  hour,  some  one  will  come  out  of  the  room  knowing  a 
great  deal  more  than  he  did  when  he  wont  into  it.  Contact,  mutual 
purpose,  aspiration,  sympathy,  fire  to  fire,  brain  to  brain,  tongue  to 
tongue,  will  evolve  somebody  as  a  leader. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  241 

That  has  for  the  work  of  our  normal  plans — the  outcome  of  the 
work  in  Illinois.  I  have  in  my  mind  one  little  woman  who  entered 
into  the  work  because  she  felt  tlie  great  need  of  a  better  knowledge  of 
God's  book  and  better  skill  in  teaching  it,  Slie  gathered  her  own 
father  and  mother  and  younger  brother,  out  of  sheer  sympathy,  I 
suppose,  and  made  that  little  family  meeting  the  nucleus  of  a  larger 
effort  of  teaching  eighteen  or  twenty  young  people  in  a  little  country 
neighbourhood.  She  walked  three  miles  to  the  Sunday  school  and 
•three  back  for  that  purpose.  That  means  a  great  deal  on  a  Western 
prairie.  That  little  lady  has,  in  five  years,  organised  a  whole  county 
and  graduated  more  than  twenty  classes.  And  now,  though  she  is 
married — which  seems  to  be  inevitably  the  termination  of  many  a 
good  woman's  career  (laughter) — she  is  more  anxious  than  ever  to  go 
on  in  Ihe  work.     (Cheers.) 

Another  instance  is  a  plain,  matter-of-fact,  hard-working  druggist 
in  Stirling,  Illinois.  He  had  a  limited  English  education  to  begin 
with,  and  as  superintendent  of  a  Baptist  Sunday  school,  confronting 
the  difficulties  of  poor  teaching  and  inferior  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures  on  the  part  of  his  own  teachers,  determined  that  he  would 
raise  the  standard  of  teaching;  and  gathering  about  him  some  of  the 
j'^oung  people  and  some  who  were  then  teaching  in  the  schools  of  the 
little  city,  he  has  within  ten  years  graduated  in  a  population  of  6000 
inhabitants  more  than  200  persons.  (Cheers.)  And  now,  any 
superintendent  in  Stirling  and  beyond  has  only  to  reach  out  his  hand 
and  gather  in  teachers,  because  they  are  glad  and  able  to  teach,  as 
they  have  been  pupils  of  this  humble  druggist.     (Cheers.) 

I  have  in  my  hand  the  Legion  of  Honour — the  document  itself. 
Here  it  is. 

"A   W0:!K5IAN   THAT   XEEDETH   NOT   TO    BE   ASHAMED." — 2  Tim.  2.   15. 

THE     SUNDAY     SCHOOL     ASSOCIATION 

OF    THE  OF 


TO  THE  PASTORS,  CHURCHES  AND  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  WORKERS  OF  AMERICA, 
GREETING : 

THIS  CERTIFIES 

TUat_ ' 

having  passed  the  Final  Examinations    in    the  Legion  of  Honor  Normd 
Lessons  is  awarded  this 

Full  Course  DIPLOMA  of  the  LEGION  OF  HONOR 

In  token  of  which  we  hereunto  affix  the  Seal  and  sign  the  Names  of  the 

Officers  of  the  Sunday  School  Association  of 

this day  of in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  One 

Thousand  Eight  Hundnd  and  Ninety 

President  of  Association. 


Sujierintendent  of  Formal  'Work. 


242  '^'  World's  Third 

The  President  (Mr.  E.  Towers)  :  Onr  friends  in  America  are  more 
successful  than  we  are  in  England.  The  title  "  Normal  Graduate " 
frightens  us  English  teachers  somewhat.  But  how  much  more  satis- 
factory it  would  be  to  the  teachers,  the  children,  and  to  the  INIastcr 
Himself,  if  the  teachers  would  take  the  trouble  to  go  through  the 
courses  adopted  by  our  American  friends?  We  should  have  hundreds 
of  fully  equipped  teachers  where  now  we  have  only  one.  I  am  speak- 
ing more  particularly  to  the  British  delegates,  in  the  hope  that  tliey 
will  determine  t(j  work  up  a  normal  class  in  connection  with  every 
district  and  in  every  Sunday  school  in  tbis  kingdom.     (Hear,  hear.) 


SUMMER  TRAINING  SCHOOLS  FOR  PRIMARY  WORK. 
By  IMrs.  W.  J.  Semelroth  (St.  Louis,  U.S.A.). 

There  is  an  old  picture  which  is  familiar  to  everyone  of  us  here ; 
it  represents  the  Saviour  seated  by  the  side  of  a  well,  and  folding  a 
little  child  in  His  arms,  while  His  hand  rests  tenderly  on  the  head  of 
a  little  boy  at  His  knee.  Gathered  in  little  groups  above  Him  are 
mothers,  some  sitting,  some  standing,  holding  babes  in  their  arms ; 
while  in  the  distance  we  catch  just  a  faint  glimpse  of  the  care-taking 
Apostles,  watching  so  carefully  over  their  Master.  As  we  look  at  this 
picture  it  seems  so  real  m'c  can  almost  hear  the  words  fall  from  the 
Saviour's  lips,  "Suffer  little  children  to  come  nnto  Me."  As  we 
notice  the  faces  of  these  happy  and  contented  mothers,  it  seems  as  if 
we  could  hear  them  say,  with  a  great  sigh,  "  Well,  we  did  get  here 
after  all  ;  "  and  we  think  how  those  same  mothers  have  been  trying  to 
get  these  little  ones  past  that  gi-eat  crowd,  and  past  those  care-taking 
Apostles,  into  the  presence  of  tlic  Master,  that  He  might  i)ut  His 
hand  on  their  children's  heads  and  bless  them.  We  can  tliink  how 
one  earnest  mother  said  to  the  others,  "'Well,  let  us  join  liauds  and  go 
together  and  see  what  we  can  do  then,"  and  how,  thus  imited  into  one 
strong  and  mighty  body,  they  press  right  tiirough  that  crowd,  pass 
those  care-taking  Ajwstles,  into  the  very  in-esence  of  the  Master 
Himself.  Ah,  wliat  a  day  that  was  in  tlie  land  of  Jud;en,  when  these 
Jewish  mothers  joined  hands,  one  in  mind  and  heart,  overcame  all 
obstacles,  pressed  through  that  crowd,  and  brought  tlieir  little  ones  to 
Jesus  that  He  might  put  His' hands  ()n;their^heads. 

Beloved,  this  picture  has  its  parallel  in  our  own  laud,  scattered  all 
over  our  beautiful  United  States  in  hundreds  and  thousands  of  Sunday 
school  teachers,  especially  those  who,  for  years  and  years,  have  been 
struggling  single-handed  and  alone,  trying  in  every  way  they  know 
how  to  bring  these  little  ones  of  theirs  to,'  Jesus,  that  He  may  put  His 
hands  of  blessing  upon  their  heads.  From  the  hearts  of  these  teachers 
wc  have  heard  the  cry  going  up,  "  What  shall  I  do?  I  do  not  believe 
I  know  how  to  get  them  to  Him.  Something  seems  to  be  in  the  way. 
I  don't  know  whetheV I  *am  Th  flie  TauTt  orTlicTeaclTirig  ;  biirralirfiOt 
getting  these  little  ones  to  the  Master  as  I  want  to  do," 


Sunday  School  Convention.  243 

It  was  back  in  the  year  1870  tliat  one  of  these  earnest  teachers  iu 
the  little  town  of  Newark,  New  Jersey,  said  to  some  co-workers, 
"  Come,  let  us  join  hands,  get  together,  and  talk  over  how  we  have 
been  working ;  for  we  may  find  out  a  better  way,  perhaps  the  best 
way,  to  bring  these  little  ones  to  Jesus.  And  so  the  little  circle  was 
formed,  which  proved  to  be  such  a  blessing  that  by-aud-by  the 
movement  spread,  not  only  in  the  city  of  Newark,  but  in  Washington, 
New  York,  aud  Philadelphia  in  quick  succession.  These  different 
little  circles  came  together  and  compared  what  they  had  been  doing, 
and  organised  what  is  known  as  the  National  Teachers'  Class  or 
National  Primary  Teachers'  Union.  To-day  the  movement  has 
grown,  so  that  it  is  scattered  over  the  United  States  until  there  are 
now  over  200  circles  or  training  classes  for  teachers  coming  tngether 
once  a  week  from  different  denominations  for  the  purpose  of  studying 
the  International  Sunday  School  Lessons,  and  studying  them  from  the 
child's  point  of  view,  bringing  under  consideration  all  their  difficulties 
and  troubles,  and  deciding  what  to  do.  In  that  way  they  got  help 
and  inspiration.  As  we  look  at  the  picture  of  these  little  groujis 
scattered  here  aud  there,  what  do  we  see,  beloved?  We  see  the 
Master  Himself  Iiolding  a  little  child,  sitting  in  the  midst,  aud  these 
taruest-hearted  teachers  looking  uj)  into  His  face,  and  listening  to 
Him  as  they  hear  Him  say,  "  Come  aud  study  this  little  child  with 
Me,  that  I,  by  my  Spirit,  through  the  Word,  may  teach  you  how  to 
take  the  precious  truths  of  this  Word  and  put  them  into  the  heart  aud 
life  of  this  little  child. 

That  is  the  picture  which  we  see.  We  stand  to-day  on  higher 
ground  than  we  have  ever  done  before.  To-day  we  realise  that  only 
our  best,  nothing  short  of  our  best,  work  must  be  given  to  these  little 
ones.  No  sacrifiee  is  too  great  for  us  to  give  in  equijjping  ourselves 
for  this  great  work.  Many  of  our  primary  teachers  bear  testimony  to 
the  fact  that  the  Great  Teacher  has  been  taking  the  precinus  Word 
iu  these  little  meetings  and  taught  them  how  to  apply  it  to  the  heart 
of  the  little  child  so  that  they  know  and  believe  it. 

More  than  that  is  meant  by  these  gatherings.  We  have,  it  seems 
to  me,  only  recently  begun  to  grasp  the  idea  that  we  must  study  aud 
know  the  child,  and  that  the  dear  Lord  is  opening  His  Book  to  us  in 
a  wonderful  way,  and  He  is  standing  holding  this  little  child  and 
teaching  us  through  so  many  different  agencies  how  we  may  under- 
stand aud  know  the  little  child  and  then  take  the  truth  and  give  that 
child,  as  he  needs  it,  his  portion  of  the  Scripture,  and  building  him 
up  in  the  faith. 

But  a  wider  movement  has  come  to  us  out  of  tliese  little  circles, 
aud  that  is  the  summer  school  movement,  the  training  summer  school  for 
primary  workers,  a  movement  which,  I  think,  must  have  been  born  out 
of  the  great  desire  of  these  teachers  for  better  equipment  for  their  work, 
and  the  great  desire,  too,  of  those  who  stand  at  the  head  of  the  State 
Sunday  School  Association  of  New  Jersey  wishing  to  better  equip  their 
primary  teachers,  realising  the  advance  they  have  made  in  this  union 

R  2 


244  World's  Tldrd 

movement,  and  many  of  them  wishing:  for  further  training  where 
they  could  take  up  work  more  in  detail,  and  more  special  work  on 
Bpccial  lines.  The  State  Association,  through  the  Secretary,  came  to 
the  teachers  of  the  Primary  Union,  and  so  interested  them  that  they 
bravely  began  with  the  training  they  had  and  took  hold  of  the  work, 
60  that  the  first  summer  school  became  a  great  success. 

A  summer  resort  in  a  central  situation  was  chosen,  and  at  a  place 
which  would  be  cool  and  pleasant  for  the  teachers.  A  week's  course 
was  given,  or  perhaps  ten  days  or  a  little  over.  The  &tudy  was  a 
Bjiecial  course,  and  dealt  with  what  we  would  call  primary  work — i.e., 
we  decided  what  should  be  given  to  the  little  ones  in  the  hour  we 
had  to  teach  them,  besides  the  teaching  of  the  lesson.  The  teachers 
wanted  to  know  how  to  occupy  the  special  hour,  so  that  when  they 
went  back  to  organise  their  primary  department  they  might  be  able 
in  the  best  way  to  bring  in  the  different  features  of  the  work  they  had 
learned,  such  as  prayer  and  fellowship,  besides  the  lesson  itself.  In 
that  way  they  could  teach  the  little  ones  many  precious  lessons, 
besides  the  truths  given  to  them  in  the  portion  of  Scripture  allotted  to 
them  for  the  day.  The  next  year  some  outside  teachers — secular 
teachers  in  the  kindergarten — came  in  and  helped  to  supply  the  special 
need  of  learning  the  principles  of  teaching. 

But  as  time  went  on  and  brought  with  it  experience,  the  need  was 
discovered  of  definite  work  on  definite  lines,  and  so  the  school  has 
been  divided  into  two  sections.  Teachers  came  from  the  country 
where  they  had  no  separate  room.  They  have  now  their  section,  and 
know  how  to  furnish  that  corner.  That  was  called  elementary  work. 
The  teachers,  who  needed  more  training,  and  who  had  the  primary 
department,  entered  into  the  graduating  work  and  had  their  special 
course ;  and  those  who  wished  specially  to  take  on  organising  work 
of  ordinary  circles  or  bands  had  the  Primary  Union  Leaders'  section. 
Then  the  teachers  of  childien  over  twelve  and  up  to  sixteen  years  of 
age  had  felt  they  needed  sijecial  work,  just  as  primary  workers  did, 
only,  perhaps,  more  so,  because  they  had  no  separate  room.  And  so 
the  junior  section  was  provided,  where  special  work  was  given  to  those 
teachers.  You  see  how  very  helpful  the  summer  school  of  training 
to  these  workers  would  be. 

I  may  also  mention  that,  besides  the  regular  work  of  the  .school, 
and  in  each  school  equipped  with  it,  is  an  appliance  room,  showing 
what  material  the  teachers  could  use,  and  giving  suggestions  which 
they  could  carry  home. 

In  that  little  circle  at  Newark,  in  New  Jersey,  the  movement  was 
born  of  God,  and  so  widely  has  it  spread  that  you  will  find  a  summer 
school  called  the  Illinois  Summer  School  in  Chicago,  Mr.  B.  F.Jacobs's 
own  home.  There  the  Sunday  School  Association  said,  "  We  will 
give  our  primary  teachers  a  summer  school,  just  as  the  New  Jersey 
Sunday  schools  had  done ;  and,  going  buck  the  second  year,  they 
gathered,  not  only  the  Newark  Union,  but  others  into  an  organised 
body  for  their  own  primary  department  work.     In  connection  with 


Sunday  School  Convention.  245 

that  movement,  these  primary  teachers  did  uot  call  upon  tlie  State 
ASfeociation  for  one  cent.,  but  each  circle  bore  all  the  expense  of  their 
representative;  because  they  were  organised  to  do  it.  Over  200 
teachers  were  enrolled  in  the  Chicago,  Illinois,  summer  school.  This 
summer  we  have  one  also  at  Chautauqua,  one  ia  Maine. 

I  wish  you  could  glance  over  our  work,  which  is  different  in  many 
ways  from  yours  in  this  country.  I  think  you  will  be  interested  in 
reading  about  it.  We  cannot  on  this  occasion  go  much  into  detail, 
but  must  be  content  in  simply  putting  an  outline  before  you,  so  that 
you  may  form  some  general  idea  of  the  summer  school  movement. 

Let  us  hold  up  the  standard  of  our  work  higher  than  it  has  ever 
been  held  before.  Let  us  count  no  sacrifice  too  great  in  equipping 
ourselves  for  this  work.  Pastors  and  superintendents,  will  you  not 
make  a  gi-eat  effort  yourselves  to  see  that  your  workers  are  equipped  ? 
You  will  be  surprised  to  know  how  many  are  gifted  among  you,  when 
you  have  given  them  an  opportunity  of  developing  their  talents  in  this 
work.  In  America  we  did  not  know  what  gifts  we  had  uutil  they 
were  developed  by  the  primary  unions.  Some  of  our  ablest  primary 
workers  have  been  developed  in  that  way,  because  they  had  a  place  to 
go  to  for  learning  to  teach  and  actually  doing  it  with  other  teachers. 

I  appeal  to  you  to  do  your  part  in  raising  the  standard  and  helping 
the  teachers  to  get  the  special  training  they  need.  Many  and  many 
an  earnest-hearted  worker,  with,  perhaps,  little  ciUture  and  with 
almost  no  training,  has  been  used  of  God  to  lead  these  little  ones  to 
Him ;  and  so,  far  above  all  training,  far  above  all  equipment  of  every 
kind,  would  we  put  this :  that  the  dear  Lord,  by  His  Spirit,  would 
so  influence  our  hearts  and  lives  that,  as  we  come  to  these  little  ones 
each  Sunday,  and  stand  before  them,  they  may  see,  not  our  method, 
not  our  material  for  training,  but  the  Lord  Himself;  that  they  may 
see  in  our  faces  His  heart  and  love  beaming  out  of  them ;  that  they 
may  feel  the  touch  of  His  hands  in  our  hands  upon  their  heads ;  that 
they  may,  in  listening  to  our  voices,  hear  His  loving  voice  speaking 
to  them;  and  that,  as  they  reach  out  their  hands  in  love  to  Him, 
they  may  see  the  Christ  in  us.  May  He  help  us  to  take  these  little 
hands  and  place  them  into  the  hands  of  the  dear  Saviour,  who  has 
said,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  Me."    (Cheers.) 


EESOLUTIONS. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (Loudon) :  The  Committee  on  Resolutions  having 
had  before  it  several  matters  introduced  to  the  Convention,  has 
entrusted  me,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  with  tins  report,  and 
recommends  the  Convention  to  adopt  the  Resolutions  that  I  am  about 
to  read. 

The  Resolutions  were  then  read  seriatim  by  Mr.  Belsey,  and  then 
severally  considered  by  the  Convention. 


246  World's  Third 


The  Spanish-American  War, 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London):  I  formally  move  the  first  of  the 
Resolutiiius  recommended  l>y  the  Committee  for  aduption  by  the 
Conveutiou : — 

"That  this  Convention  hails  with  satisfaction  the  gathering  omens 
of  renewed  peace  between  the  American  and  Spanish  nations,  ami 
prays  that  the  outcome  of  the  war  may  be  not  only  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  peoples,  but  the  enlargement  of  the  life-giving  Word  of  God 
and  the  spread  of  religious  thoiight  and  liberty."  Tliat  Resolution,  I 
suggest,  ought  to  be  seconded  by  an  American.     (Hear,  hear.) 

Dr.  Hazard  :  I  most  cordially  second  the  resolution.     (Cheers.) 

The  resolution  was  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  A.  B.  McCrillis  (Rhode  Island) :  I  would  like  to  know  whether 
there  is  in  the  house  a  cousin  of  our  President  McKinley,  and  who 
might  now  very  fittingly  respond  to  the  resolution  just  jmssed.  He  is 
a  gentleman  who,  in  appearance,  closely  resembles  our  President  and 
is  his  own  cousin.  If  not  here  this  afternoon,  lie  might  appear  at  the 
meeting  to  be  held  this  evening.  I  refer  to  Dr.  Mitchell.  (Hear, 
hear.) 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London) :  If  Dr.  ISIitchell  is  not  present  this 
afternoon,  tlie  resolution  might  bo  briefly  stated  at  the  evening 
meeting,  and  he  could  then  acknowledge  it,  on  behalf  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States.     (Hear,  hear.) 

Home  Department. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London) :  I  move  tlie  next  resolution : — 

"  That  this  Convention,  convinced  of  tlie  immense  value  of  the  Home 
Department  as  a  most  important  auxiliary  of  Sunday  school  work  and 
a  most  practical  evangelistic  agency,  commends  the  development  of 
this  idea  to  all  Sunday  school  workers." 

Mr.  J.  Rdtherforu  (Birmingham)  :  I  beg  to  move  a  rider  to  the 
resolution  by  adding  words  embracing  the  consideration  of  house-to- 
house  work  in  this  country  in  connection  with  the  Free  Churcli 
Council.  It  is  most  important  that  we  should  try  to  link  in  house- 
to-house  work  in  this  way. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London) :  We  accept  that  rider. 

The  resolution,  with  the  rider  added,  was  then  carried. 

Sunday  School  Missionaries. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London) :  The  Resolutions  Committee  also 
report — "Having  had  under  consideration  the  following  Resolution 
passed  by  the  Calcutta  Missionary  Conference,  on  June  13,  viz.,  '  That 
the  Calcutta  [Missionary  Conference  heartily  approve  of  the  Indian 
Sunday  School  Union  in  urging  the  needs  of  a  second  Sunday  School 
Missionary  to  be  associated  witli  Mr.  Burgos  in  his  great  and  promising 


Sunday  School  Convention.  247 

work ;  and  of  largely  increased  funds  for  the  production  of  vernacular 
literature  for  Sunday  school  pupils  and  teachers  in  India ;  and  that 
the  secretary  be  requested  to  send  a  fraternal  letter  in  the  name  of  the 
Conference  to  the  Convention,  pressing  these  two  things  on  the 
favoui'able  consideration  of  the  Convention' — the  Committee  on 
Kesolntions  recommend  its  reference  to  the  Indian  Committee  of  the 
Sunday  School  Union  and  the  adoption  by  the  Convention  of  the 
following  Kesolution."  Then  follows  the  Kesolution  which  I  now 
move : — 

"  That  this  Convention  joyfully  congratulates  the  International 
Executive  on  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Ikehara,  as  Sunday  school 
Field- Secretary  for  Japan,  and  earnestly  hopes  that  further  aims  in 
this  direction  may  be  found  for  India  and  China." 

The  Resolution,  having  been  seconded,  was  agreed  to. 

Votes  of  Thanks. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London) :  I  move  the  next  Resolution  : — 

"  That  the  best  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  due  and  are  hereby 
given  to  all  those  who,  as  chairman,  speakers,  or  contributors  of  papers, 
have  secured  the  success  and  usefulness  of  this  assembly,  and  that 
thanks  be  especially  accorded  to  the  choir  and  its  conductors  whoso 
services  have  lent  such  brightness  and  joy  to  the  proceedings  of  the 
Convention." 

A  Delegate  :  We  should  not  overlook  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Parker 
in  allowing  us  to  meet  here  and  in  other  ways. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London) :  We  can  make  the  Resolution  express 
our  obligations  to  Dr.  Parker.  It  could  have  been  done,  but  in 
another  ibrm ;  but  perhaps  this  Resolution  may  very  well  include  that 
proposal.  I  will  take  care  that  there  is  added  a  clause  heartily 
thanking  the  pastor  and  deacons  of  the  City  Temple  for  the  very 
hospitable  provision  they  have  made  for  our  comfort  in  tliis 
building. 

A  Delegate  :  You  include  the  organist. 

Mr.  F.  F  Belsey  (London) :  We  thought  the  organist  would  be 
included  in  the  reference  to  the  choir. 

The  Resolution,  subject  to  the  modification  indicated,  was  then 
carried  unanimously. 

The  Pkess. 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London)  :  The  last  Resolution  of  all  is  : — 
"  That   the  best  thanks  of  this   Convention    be    given  to  those 
organisations  of  the  British  and  American  press  which  have  furnished 
their  readers  with  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  and 
favourable  notices  of  its  aims  and  merits." 

Mr.  J.  Clark  (Norwich) :  I  beg  heartily  to  second  that ;  for  the 
International  Evangel,  brought  out  by  the  enterprise  of  our 
American  friends,  has  given  us  something  worth  looking  at  during  the 


^48  World's  Third 

Couvcntion.  Indeed,  it  lia«  hcun  of  bucIi  service  to  us  that  I  should 
be  glad  if  we  could  have  the  other  days'  proceedings  in  a  later 
edition, 

Mr.  W.  J.  Semelroth  :  I  should  be  willing  to  do  that,  if  it  were 
particularly  desired  ;  but  we  do  not  wisli  to  interfere  with  the  sale  of 
your  official  Report.    (Hear,  hear.) 

Mr.  F.  F.  Belsey  (London)  :  Tlicre  is  one  delegate  to  wliom  we  arc 
indebted  for  the  earliest,  and  probably  the  most  interesting  record  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  Convention.  I  mean  our  energetic  friend, 
Mr.  Semelroth,  of  America.  (Cheers.)  We  recognise  the  admirable 
work  done  by  him,  and — I  think  he  will  forgive  me  for  saying  it — by 
his  partner,  Mrs.  Semelroth.  In  associating  their  names  with  this 
llesolution,  I  am  sure  I  shall  cany  your  feelings  with  me.     (Cheers.) 

The  resolution  was  carried  with  acclamation. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Semelroth  (St.  Louis,  U.S.A.):  I  certainly  am  very 
glad  to  convey  to  the  publisher  of  the  International  Evangel  your 
expression  and  appreciation,  so  far  as  it  covers  the  paper  which  you 
have  had  placed  in  your  hands.  May  I  be  allowed  to  say  that  it  has 
Ijeen  a  gift  entirely,  as  you  have  discovered,  and  that  the  paper  itself, 
published  monthly  for  the  benefit  of  the  world-wide  Sunday  school 
work  in  its  organised  form,  is  likewise  purely  and  solely  a  gift  on  the 
part  of  the  publisher,  who  has  set  aside  so  many  thousands  of  dollars 
10  establish  the  paper,  for  no  other  reason  in  the  world  tlian  that 
he  loves  the  Sunday  school  cause  above  all  others,  and  wants  the 
paper  to  go  on  to  live  after  he  has  passed  home  to  his  reward.  He 
has  so  fixed  his  affairs  that  when  he  shall  say  good-bye  to  us,  which 
will  be  before  long,  the  paper  shall  continue  to  go  on,  a  blessing  and 
help  to  the  work ;  and  when  it  shall  produce  anything  in  the  way  of 
dollars  and  cents,  that  money  is  to  go  solely  and  only  for  the  extension 
of  Sunday  school  work,  and  cannot  ever  come  back  to  him  or  to  his 
estate  in  any  way.  We  ask  your  sympathy  and  prayer  for  the 
International  Evangel,  because  it  is  of  the  character  that  it  is. 
(Hear,  hear.)  The  publisher  is  not  a  publisher  proper.  He  is  a  dry- 
goods  merchant,  having  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  paper  but 
paying  the  bill. 


THE  MEETING  OF  THE  CONVENTION. 

Mr.  A.  B.  McCrillis  (Rhode  Island) :  I  move  :— 

"  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested  to  consider  whether 
it  is  not  desirable  that  the  Sessions  of  the  World's  Sunday  School  Con- 
vention be  held  at  intervals  of  six  years,  instead  of  five  as  at  present ; 
so  that  its  meetings  may  coincide  alternately  with  the  meetings  of  the 
International  Convention;  i.e.,  as  the  International  Convention  meets 
once  in  three  years,  this  World's  Convention  should  meet  once  in  six 
years." 

The  motion  was  eeconded,  and  carried. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  24& 


A  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TOUR  OF  THE  WORLD. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Semelroth  (St.  Louis,  U.S.A.)  :  I  beg  to  move: — 
"  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested  to  consider  a  plan 
for  a   tour  of  the  world  in  behalf  of  the  Sunday  school  cause  in 
England,  Scotland,  Canada,  the  United  States,  and  Germany,  each  to 
have  a  representative  on  this  Committee  to  plan  the  tour." 

It  was  agreed  to  refer  the  proposal  to  the  Executive  Committee  for 
consideration. 

"  Take  my  life,  and  let  it  be, 
Consecrated,  Lord,  to  Tliee," 

was  the  closing  hymn.  The  President  (Mr.  E.  Towers)  then  in 
prayer  commended  Mr.  T.  C.  Ikehara,  the  Japanese  missionary,  to 
God's  keeping;  and  with  this,  the  Eleventh  Session  of  the  Convention 
came  to  a  happy  termination. 


260  World's  Third 


PAPERS    PREPARED    BUT    NOT    READ    AT 
CONVENTION. 


THE    DEVIL'S    TRIPLE    CHAIN    OF    IMPURITY, 
INTEMPERANCE,  AND  GAMBLING. 

By  Mrs.  Frances  S.  Hallowes  (Curhar,  Sheffield). 
Suggestions  to  Sunday  School  Teachers. 

The  late  Lord  Shaftesbury  said,  "  Hundreds  and  thousands  of 
young  men  and  women  enter  into  a  careei'  of  vice  in  utti-r  ignorance 
of  the  nature  and  end  of  such  a  course.  Not  until  they  have  drunk 
in  the  poison  that  has  been  instilled  in  small  doses  do  they  see  or  feel 
the  career  to  be  one  from  which  it  is  difficult  to  retire." 

If  this  is  true,  what  real  help  do  we  give  to  the  young  people  under 
our  care  in  their  fight  with  sin  ? 

Why  is  it  that  so  many  who  have  been  in  Sunda)'  schools  are  to  be 
found  among  the  degraded  men  and  women  of  our  streets? 

"  Forewarned  is  forearmed,"  says  the  jiroverb.  Are  we  arming 
our  scholars  by  warning  and  teaching  tliem?  Surely  we  who  are 
teachers  are  not  worthy  of  the  name  if  we  rest  satisfied  with  instruction 
destitute  of  warning  as  to  those  numerous  pitfalls,  which,  because  they 
are  concealed  by  the  flowers  of  pleasure,  are  specially  adapted  to 
entrap  the  unwary. 

I  mention  as  one  of  the  strongest  parts  of  this  triido  chain  of 
temptation  that  of 

Impurity, 

because  secretly  and  insidiously  this  sin  is  everywhere.  It  finds  its 
way  into  the  Church,  it  ventures  into  our  Christain  homes,  and  even 
on  the  thresholds  of  our  Sunday  scliools  it  lifts  its  hideous  head.  Of 
all  sins  it  is  the  one  whicli  works  most  widespread  harm  and  misery. 
Each  act  of  sin  means  the  degradation  of  two. 

How  strangely  silent  are  our  pulpits !  Our  public  teachers  seem 
witli  almost  one  consent  to  ignore  this  subject. 

The  preaching  of  the  Seventh  Commandment,  which  is  quite  as 
much  a  part  of  divine  Revelation  as  any  other  of  the  nine,  is  tacitly 
abandoned ;  society  demands  this  silence  and  is  obeyed  !  Under  these 
circumstances  what  is  to  be  the  attitude  of  those  who  guide  the  young  ? 


Sunday  School  Convention.  261 

"  I  was  never  told  anything  about  these  sins,"  wailed  a  girl  who  had 
drifted  into  degradation. 

The  difficulty  of  broaching  the  subject  of  Purity  is  constantly  urged 
as  an  excuse  for  silence  ;  but  surely  the  difficulty  does  not  absolve  from 
the  duty.  We  have  the  Word  of  God  as  a  model  of  teaching.  This 
does  not  hesitate  to  denounce  vice ;  and  in  many  thousands  of 
cases  these  Biblical  warnings  must  have  been  instrumental  in  salva- 
tion from  impurity.  Yet  there  are  some  so  ultra  refined  that 
they  would  expurgate  our  Bibles  of  all  these  passages.  Our  Lord 
speaks  plainly  of  adulteries  and  fornications  as  the  things  which 
defile  a  man,  and  in  most  of  the  Epistles  warnings  are  found  of  the 
same  kind. 

We  must  give  up  this  policy  of  silence,  for  every  real  duty  may  be 
done  delicately,  and  God  has  given  us  language  with  words  which, 
well  chosen,  need  shock  no  one,  even  the  most  sensitive.  Our  duty  is 
plain,  remembering  that  boys  and  girls  often  go  wrong  for  want  of 
guidance,  and  that  many  are  living  to-day  who  are  fallen  and  degraded 
who  might  have  been  diflerent  if  their  Sunday  school  teachers  had 
been  faithful.     We  dare  not  refrain. 

What  is  Purity  ?  Is  it  so  fragile  a  thing  that  the  knowledge  of 
human  life  as  made  by  God  destroys  it  ?  Is  it  as  frail  and  evanescent 
as  the  dust  on  the  wing  of  a  butterfly  or  the  bloom  on  a  peach, 
which  a  touch  may  destroy  ?  A  thousand  times  "  No."  Innocence  y.i 
not  necessarily  purity.  We  covet  for  our  youth  something  stronger 
and  more  enduring.  A  militant  virtue  which  can  know  the  evil  and 
fight  it.  Even  as  the  Purity  of  Christ,  who  knew  what  was  in  man 
— all  the  depths  of  sin,  and  yet  was  the  pure  and  spotless  One.  It  is 
excusing  sin  which  damages  and  degrades ;  knowledge  which  hates 
and  contends  against  vice  does  not  soil. 

Reverent  and  courageous  plain-speaking  cannot  do  harm.  Take  up 
this  subject  prayerfully.  The  following  suggestions  may  be  found 
of  use — 

1.  Let  superintendents  bring  this  matter  before  men  teachers,  and 
the  senior  women  teachers  confer  together  and  bring  it  before  the 
teachers  of  girls. 

2.  Let  the  prayer-meeting  once  a  quarter  be  devoted  to  seeking  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  matter  (remembering  that  when 
Moses  of  old  shrank  from  the  task  of  speaking  to  Pharoah,  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  came  to  him, "  Who  made  man's  mouth  ?  Have  not  I,  the 
Lord  ?  Now,  therefore,  go,  and  I  will  be  with  thy  mouth,  and  will 
teach  thee  what  thou  shall  say  "  ). 

3.  Appoint  a  literature  committee  to  discover,  and  examine,  and,  if 
necessary,  write  suitable  booklets  and  leaflets  for  boys  and  girls. 
Much  may  be  done  by  lending  such,  and,  when  they  are  returned, 
adding  a  few  earnest  words  confirming  the  teaching  therein.  Con- 
fidential conversation  between  scholar  and  teacher  will  not  be  difficult, 
but  let  it  be  remembered  that  too  much  insistance  upon  one  subject  is 
to  be  avoided. 


252  WorhVs  Third 

■i.  Enlist  the  big  boys  and  girls  on  your  side  in  the  care  and  watch- 
fulness of  the  younger  ones.  By  getting  their  co-oporation  thus  you 
can  teach  them,  and  evil  habits  and  loose  talk  will  be  more  quickly 
discovered. 

5.  Do  not  merely  hint  at  possible  tcmptatious;  tell  your  scholars 
definitively  where  they  may  expect  to  be  tried.  Put  a  buttress  on  the 
practical  side  of  their  life.  With  girls  and  boys  tlio  subject  of  lovo 
and  marriage  must  be  faithfully  dealt  with,  and  to  this  end  let  teachers 
see  that  they  have  high  ideals  of  manly  and  womanly  excellence  for 
themselves.  Let  teachers  of  boys  speak  with  emphatic  scorn  of  the 
meanness  and  cruelty  which  deceives  and  degrades  a  girl  and  then 
(leKrts  her. 

G.  Once  a  year,  at  least,  see  that  meetings  arc  arranged  at  which 
some  outside  speaker,  preacher,  or  doctor,  shall  enforce  the  truths  of 
purity.  At  such  times  a  kind  of  pledge  can  be  taken,  if  thought 
helpful.  See  that  your  speaker  understands  tlic  subject,  and  is  sound 
upon  the  equal  standard  for  man  and  woman.  One  who  will  uphold 
God's  law  as  tlie  same  for  man  and  woman,  one  who  can  speak 
indignantly  of  a  law  "  which  seeks  to  make  unchastity  safe  for  men 
while  at  the  same  time  it  gives  authority  to  hunt  up  and  hound 
down,  outrage  and  imprison,  women  on  behalf  of  men." 

Intemperance. 

Thanks  to  the  Temperance  Crusade  of  the  past  fifty  years  this 
subject  is  not,  as  that  of  impurity,  one  which  is  kept  in  obscurity. 
The  admirable  work  of  Band  of  Hope  TJnions  keeps  before  a  very 
large  number  of  our  Sunday  school  children  the  misery  and  mischief 
of  drinking  habits.  But  the  very  age  and  extent  of  Temperance  work 
has  its  diflSculties.  It  is  an  old  tale — we  forget  too  often  that  our 
Temperance  lectures  do  not  draw  outsiders,  and  that  it  is  difficult  to 
break  fresh  ground.  The  need  is  the  same,  for  each  new  generation 
requires  teaching ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  interest  the  children.  Too 
much  reliance  is  put  in  the  Band  of  Hope,  too  little  upon  the  line- 
upon-line  instruction  of  the  teacher.  Both  are  required  if  the  work  is 
to  be  well  done.  The  question,  "  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ? "  is 
answered  by  the  Master,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself," 
and  surely  scholars  have  special  claims  upon  those  who  teach 
them? 

The  following  suggestions  may  be  helpful : — 

1.  Ask  yourself  and  your  scholars,  "  Why  does  the  Drink  Question 
concern  me  personally?"  Though  we  consider  ourselves  to  be 
perfectly  safe — and  this  we  cannot  be  sure  of  in  view  of  jjossible 
burdens  of  pain,  anxiety,  and  weary  weakness — it  is  still  our  concern. 
We  are  bound  up  with  others,  and  suffer  more  or  less  from  their 
intemperance.  How  many  crimes,  accidents,  bankruptcies  which 
spread  desolation  in  our  environment,  are  caused  by  drink,  and 
therefore  preventable  ?    No  one  is  free  from  responsibility. 


Sunday  ScJwol  Convention.  253 

2.  Why  are  we  bound  to  help  in  this  fight  against  Intemperance  ? 
Because  it  deprives  God  of  glory  and  man  of  good.  Because  it  means 
peril,  heart-break,  anguish.  "  In  pity  to  tempted  men  and  women,  in 
deeper  pity  to  the  little  children  who  must  grow  up  to  supply  the 
ranks  of  drunkards."  To  realise  to  any  extent  the  greatness  of 
Christ's  sacrifice  for  us  is  to  be  willing  for  self-denial  on  behalf  of 
others. 

3.  We,  as  teachers,  must  remember  that  children  have  rights. 
Theirs  is  the  right  to  be  taught  the  truth  about  strong  drink — that  it 
does  not  nourish,  that  it  weakens  instead  of  strengthens,  it  narcotises 
and  paralyses  instead  of  stimulating,  that  it  diminishes  force  and 
produces  disease,  that  it  is  a  wasteful  luxury. 

Gambling. 

All  who  have  any  right  to  speak  upon  this  subject  concur  in  saying 
that  the  vice  of  gambling  is  increasing.  Our  land  is  full  of  it — the 
gambling  of  commerce,  the  gambling  of  games  of  hazard,  the  gambling 
of  bets  and  wagers.  So  widespread  is  this  evil  that  in  boys'  schools 
and  in  girls'  factories  it  is  not  uncommon. 

There  are  those  who  question  as  to  whether  gambling  is  wrong.  It 
is  objected,  '"  Why  should  it  be  regarded  as  evil  that  a  man  should 
stake  money  on  the  happening  or  not  happening  of  a  certain  event  ?  " 
We  who  are  Sunday  school  teachers  must  sound  this  question  to  the 
bottom,  and  be  able  clearly  and  distinctly  to  state  what  is  the  harm. 
Let  us  take  the  words  of  the  Book,  "  There  is  a  way  which  seemed 
right  to  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death."  It  has 
been  said  that  "  seeing  life  is  death  in  disguise,"  and  true  it  is  that 
often  what  is  called  a  harmless  amusement  is  the  devil's  device  for 
gaining  a  hold  on  a  young  life  with  a  grip  which  drags  it  downward 
to  perdition. 

Take  time  and  trouble  to  explain  the  why  and  wherefore  of  this 
harm.  Boys  and  girls  are  reasonable  beings,  and  resent  arbitrary 
command,  while  good  sound  reasons,  if  they  do  not  convince,  go  far  to 
make  the  fall  more  difficult.  I  suggest  that  Sunday  school  teachers 
take  up  five  reasons  against  gambling. 

1.  It  leads  to  idleness.  All  interest  in  patient  painstaking  toil  is 
lost.  Those  who  are  bitten  by  this  vice  care  less  about  their  work. 
The  gambler's  ambition  is  to  get  something  for  nothing. 

2.  It  leads  to  dishonesty,  and  thrives  in  an  atmosphere  of  deceit, 
cheating,  stealing,  and  lying.  Young  men  rob  their  employers,  men 
in  business  rob  their  creditors.  Many  of  these  are  led  on  by  the  devil, 
ever  hoping  to  win  and  pay  back,  yet  they  get  deeper  into  the  mud, 
while  the  end  can  only  be  disgrace,  bankmptcy,  and  imprisonment. 

3.  Let  him  point  out  the  terrible  selfishness  of  the  gambler.  His 
character  deteriorates.  Self  elbows  out  love,  tenderness,  and 
sympathy.  Watch  the  eager  face  of  the  card-player  bent  on  winning. 
He  forgets  all  elsfe,  and  when  he  does  win,  he  pdckets  his  gains 


254  World's  Third 

nlilivious  to  the  misery  of  those  who  sufler.     Gambling  is  the  very 
opposite  of  God's  hiw,  "  TIiou  shall  not  covet." 

4.  It  frequently  leads  to  despair  and  deatli.  A  chaplain  of  au 
English  prison  stated  lately  that  ninety-two  i)cr  cent,  of  the  prisoners 
were  there  through  drink  and  gambling.  Monte  Carlo  witnesses  to 
despair  and  death — suicide  is  common  enough  there. 

5.  It  is  the  bitter  enemy  of  the  Christian  life.  What  room  can 
there  be  for  God  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  in  a  heart  which  is 
absorbed  in  games  of  chance,  wild  business  speculation,  betting,  and 
horse-racing  ?  Little  games  of  hazard  are  the  seed  which  sprouts  into 
gambling.  Therefore  teach  your  scholars  to  avoid  the  first  beginnings. 
"  What's  the  harm  of  a  game  of  chimce  ? "  says  the  boy  or  girl. 
"  We  don't  play  for  money ;  only  nuts,  or  chocolates,  or  such  like 
trifles."  But  there  is  the  beginning,  and  with  pride  of  skill  and  love 
of  mastery  there  grows  up  the  fatal  love  of  gain.  There  is  such 
fascination  about  play  to  many  minds  that  they  are  led  on  when  their 
better  judgment  bids  them  stop.  Those  who  play  habitually  find  no 
excitement  or  pleasure  in  any  other  amusement,  and  are  restless  until 
they  can  continue  the  one  pursuit  which  satisfies  their  inordinate  lust 
of  lucre. 

Let  Sunday  school  teachers  set  their  faces  against  the  principle  of 
staking  money  or  property  wherever  it  appears,  whether  it  be  in 
raffles  at  bazaars,  games  of  cards  played  for  money,  or  in  whatever 
specious  dress  it  presents  itself.  Do  not  drift  into  it,  but  stand  firm, 
80  that  you  may  give  your  scholars  the  advantage  of  example  as  well 
as  precept.  In  conclusion,  Sunday  school  teachers,  to  you  are  the  words 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  how  significant  they  are! 

"Take  heed  that  ye  oftend  not" 

"Take  lieed  that  ye  despise  not"[  these  little  ones. 

"  Take  heed  that  ye  hinder  not " 


THE    INTliODUCTION    INTO   MINISTERIAL    COLLEGES 
OF  SPECIAL  TRAINING  FOR  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  WORK. 

By  Mr.  Edwin  B.  Raymond,  A.C.P.,  F.R.G.S.  (Newcadle-on-Tyw). 

W^EULST  criticising  tlie  methods  adopted  in  secular  instruction  in  the 
early  part  of  the  16th  century.  Sir  Thomas  Elyot  was  constrained  to 
exclaim,  "  Good  Loid  !  how  many  good  and  clear  wits  of  children  be 
nowadays  i^erished  by  ignorant  schoolmasters?"  and  to  those  in  any 
degree  acquainted  with  the  methods  thus  denounced.  Sir  Thomas' 
expression  will  appear  none  too  strong.  Since  that  time,  however, 
great  improvements  have  taken  place  in  our  day  schools.  Education 
has  rei)laced  mere  instruction ;  teaching  is  recognised  as  an  art, 
difficult  of  attainment  and  requiring  great  tact  and  skill ;  the  cram- 
ming of  the  memory  has  given  place  to  the  training  of  the  mind  ; 
whilst  the  greatest  improvement  of  all,  perhaps,  is  the  recognised  need 


Sunday  Scliool  Convention.  255 

of  special  preparation  for  the  teacher's  office.  But  whilst  this  is  the 
case  with  regard  to  secular  instruction,  the  methods  adopted  for 
imparting  religious  instruction  in  our  Sunday  schools  have  improved 
but  little  from  those  in  vogue  a  century  ago.  In  these  institutions  we 
faithfully  preserve  many  of  the  worst  features  of  those  early  day 
schools;  and,  what  is  worse,  often  defend  them  with  an  enthusiasm 
deserving  of  a  much  better  cause.  Ignorance  of  the  best  methods  of 
Sunday  school  management  prevails  to  an  alarming  degree  amongst 
our  superintendents,  with  the  result  that  discipline  is  often  weak,  and 
the  general  management  bad  in  the  extreme.  But  if  the  government 
of  the  school  is  at  fault,  the  teaching  is  almost  invariably  still  more 
so.  And  what  better  could  be  expected,  when  we  remember  that 
Sunday  after  Sunday  an  army  of  voluntary  teachers,  possessing  a 
power  never  yet  developed,  attempt  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  that 
can  be  assigned  to  a  human  being,  without  the  slightest  idea  of  how 
to  set  about  the  work  they  have  undertaken  ?  They  are  as  those  who 
work  blindfolded,  who  "vamp"  the  accompaniment  and  spoil  the 
melody  ;  who  engage  in  warfare  without  knowledge  of  tactics  or  the 
use  of  weapons.-  With  all  the  zeal,  energy,  and  goodness  of  heart 
possible,  they  nevertheless  fail  in  the  accomplishment  of  their  object 
for  want  of  proper  skill.  That  there  are  numerous  exceptions  we  are 
perfectly  aware.  The  work  and  success  of  these  we  gladly  acknow- 
ledge. In  many  cases  they  are  the  salvation  of  a  school.  Such 
teachers  have  either  had  special  training,  or  are  among  those  who, 
recognising  their  weakness,  have  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to 
overcome  their  difficulties  by  a  careful  study  of  child-life,  and  of  the 
methods  adopted  by  more  successful  teachers,  and  by  perseverance  in 
the  de^^sing  of  plans  for  the  more  satisfactory  accomplishment  of  their 
work  of  love.  But  for  every  individual  teacher  of  this  class,  there  is 
a  host  of  others  who  remain  to  the  end  on  the  lowest  levels  of 
incompetency. 

A  teacher  may  have  all  the  enthusiasm  of  a  Savonarola,  and  all  the 
learning  of  a  Person  ;  but,  unless  he  be  intimately  acquainted  with 
child-life,  can  bring  himself  down  to  the  level  of  the  youthful  mind, 
and  can  impart  instruction  whilst  attracting  the  attention  of  his 
hearer,  nothing  less  than  a  miracle  will  make  him  successful  in  his 
teaching.  And,  to  judge  from  the  arguments  adduced  from  time  to 
time  in  defence  of  the  i^resent  state  of  affairs,  it  is  very  evident  that 
there  are  many  in  the  ranks  of  our  Sunday  school  workers,  who  really 
expect  that  this  miracle  will  be  performed  in  the  case  of  every 
deserving  individual.  But  if  their  view  be  correct,  then  either  the 
faith  of  a  multitude  of  teachers  must  be  sadly  defective,  or  the  miracle 
is  being  a  very  long  time  delayed  ;  whilst,  in  the  meantime,  hosts  of 
children  are  drifting  from  the  Sunday  schools  uninfluenced  for  good, 
and  lost  to  the  parent  institution — the  church.  It  is  further  argued 
that  the  Sunday  school  teacher's  duty  is  not  to  teach  any  particular 
subject,  but  to  influence  the  hearts  of  the  children  by  attracting  them 
■  to  Christ,  and  by  seeking  to  win  their  affections  for  Him  the  child's 


256  World's  Third 

salvation  being  the  object  in  view.  To  the  latter  part  of  this  state- 
ment we  give  ready  assent;  but,  that  the  teacher  has  nothing  to 
teach,  we  cannot  for  one  moment  admit.  The  very  statement  displays 
a  grave  misconception  of  the  teacher's  office,  and  of  the  means  to  be 
employed  for  the  end  in  view.  Did  the  teacher's  duty  simply  consist 
of  bringing  together  the  main  truths  of  the  Bible,  and  producing  them 
for  the  benefit  of  the  scholars  under  a  "heap  of  words"  and  "second- 
hand statements,"  then  the  argument  would  be  a  valid  one.  But 
surely  it  is  necessary  tliat  the  children  should  be  attracted  to  read  and 
study  the  Word  for  themselves,  and  have  some  higher  authority  for 
their  beliefs  than  the  mere  opinions  and  statements  of  their  teachers, 
and  to  secure  this  it  is  essential  that  the  Bible  should  be  taught  in  a 
bright,  intelligent,  and  interesting  manner.  We  do  not  learn  to  love 
and  prize  the  beauty  of  the  flowers  by  simply  sipping  the  honey 
accumulated  from  them  at  a  distance.  We  need  to  see,  smell,  and 
examine  the  flowers  themselves.  The  teacher  must  of  necessity  be 
able  to  testify  to  the  spiritual  truths  of  the  Scriptures  from  his  own 
experience  ;  but  even  as  the  Bible  has  been  the  source  of  his  own 
knowledge,  so  must  it  become  that  of  his  scholar?,  unless,  indeed,  the 
teacher  is  the  possessor  of  some  higher  revelation.  To  teach  the 
truths  of  tlie  Bible,  however,  and  to  i^resent  these  in  a  manner  at  once 
attractive  and  convincing,  cannot  be  accomplished  in  any  haphazard 
fashion.  It  requires  great  .skill,  such  as  will  only  bo  attained  by 
diligent  practice  of  methods  based  upon  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  the  mind,  and  a  careful  study  of  child-life. 

Children  have  as  much  right  to  skilled  teaching  as  adults  to  careful 
preaching.  The  general  estimate  of  the  teacher's  task  and  of  the 
importance  of  the  duty  to  be  performed  is  much  too  low,  if  not 
erroneous.  The  popular  idea  is  that  to  teach  is  tlie  simplest  thing  on 
earth,  and  that  it  only  requires  a  little  experience  to  become  proficient. 
Sir  Joshua  Fitch,  an  expert  in  educational  matters,  says,  "  Experience, 
it  is  true,  is  a  good  school,  but  the  fees  are  high,  and  the  course  is  apt 
to  be  long  and  tedious.  And  it  is  a  great  part  of  the  economy  of  life 
to  know  how  to  turn  to  profitable  account  the  accumulated  experience 
of  others."  Of  teaching  itself  he  further  says,  "The  art  of  communi- 
cating knowledge,  of  rendering  it  attractive  to  the  learner,  is  an  art 
which  has  its  own  laws  and  its  own  special  philosophy."  And  as  to  the 
importance  of  the  teacher's  work,  we  agree  with  the  ancient  writer  when 
he  says,  "  Tliere  is  no  occupation  more  worthy  of  a  Christian  .... 
The  charge  of  the  soul  of  one  of  these  little  ones  is  a  higher  employ- 
ment than  the  government  of  all  the  world."  But  our  Sunday  school 
authorities  and  the  churches,  which  certainly  ought  to  take  a  most 
lively  interest  in  their  Sunday  schools,  seemingly  do  not  recognise 
these  truths.  The  aptness  or  qualifications  of  a  candidate  for  the 
highly  important  office  of  Sunday  school  teacher  are  scarcely  so  much 
as  thought  of.  That  a  change  of  heart  has  been  experienced  and 
that  there  is  genuine  desire  to  do  something  for  the  Master,  are 
sufficient  reasons  for  his  appointment.     But  we  forget  to  ask  further 


Sunday  ScJiool  Convention.  ^6? 

if  the  candidate  knows  anything  of  the  subjects  he  is  to  teach,  and 
whether,  knowing  these,  he  is  capable  of  teacliing  them.  We  have 
heard  it  said  that  Christ's  examination  for  the  oiHce  of  teacher  simply- 
consisted  of  one  question — "  Lovcst  thou  Me  ?  "  But  if  that  was  the 
only  question  for  the  teacher  of  the  young,  it  was  also  the  only  ono 
for  the  teacher  of  the  adults.  And  yet  we  never  find  this  advanced  as 
an  argument  for  doing  away  with  the  necessity  for  special  training  for 
the  ministerial  office. 

Lest,  however,  we  sliould  seem  to  advocate  the  employment  of 
merely  educated  and  trained  teachers,  let  us  once  and  for  all  emphati- 
cally affirm  that  no  amount  of  skill  in  teaching,  nor  knowledge  of  the 
books  of  the  Bible,  will  constitute  a  successful  winner  of  souls,  unless 
these  qualifications  be  accompanied  by  an  experience  which  has  been 
begotten  by  a  felt  need  for  salvation,  and  an  unwavering  faith  and  love 
of  our  Saviour  and  Master.  To  a  merely  educated  teacher  the  Bible 
will  be  simply  a  text-book  to  be  taught  and  studied  much  in  the  same 
way  as  one  of  Shakespeare's  plays ;  but  to  one  filled  with  love  for  the 
Eedeemer  it  will  be  a  volume  to  be  prized,  not  only  on  account  of  its 
associations  with  his  own  life  and  experience,  but  also  on  account  of 
its  source  of  inspiration,  its  promises,  its  admonitions,  its  solutions  of 
vital  questions,  its  truths  applicable  to  all  ages  and  all  stages  of 
Christian  experience,  its  revelation  of  the  love  and  fatherhood  of  God, 
and  its  sympathy  with  the  infirmities  of  humanity  as  expressed  in  the 
life  and  words  of  Christ.  Such  a  teacher,  understanding  child-life  and 
having  the  power  to  adapt  his  teaching  to  the  ago  and  condition  of 
his  scholars,  would  make  the  Bible  teem  with  interest  to  the  young 
minds,  and  would  present  his  Saviour  in  a  manner  so  attractive  and 
with  language  so  convincing,  that  the  young  hearts  must  needs  be 
affected.  Not  relying  upon  his  own  powers,  he  would  continually  lift 
up  his  heart  in  prayer  for  guidance  and  wisdom,  and  for  a  blessing  upon 
his  scholars  and  upon  the  efforts  he  is  making  on  their  behalf.  While, 
however,  we  affirm  all  this,  we,  at  the  same  time,  must  insist  upon  the 
fact  that,  before  a  teacher  can  thus  affect  the  hearts  of  his  hearers, 
it  is  essential  that  he  first  should  know  how  to  enter  the  gateway 
of  the  intellect,  and  herein  lies  the  difficulty  and  the  need  for  special 
training. 

That  some  amount  of  preparation  is  necessary  has  been  for  somo 
time  recognised  by  the  Sunday  School  Union,  and  various  efforts  have 
been  made  to  supply  the  deficiency.  Text-books  have  been  written  on 
the  principles  and  art  of  teaching ;  training  classes  have  been  held 
and  examinations  arranged  for  ;  but  so  far  all  these  efforts  combined 
have  done  very  little  to  remedy  matters.  Tliey  have  affected  less 
than  one  per  cent,  of  those  engaged  in  Sunday-school  work,  and  we 
are  still  as  much  face  to  face  with  the  difficulty  as  ever.  How  is  this 
to  be  met  ?  Shall  we  shirk  the  responsibility  and  hand  it  on  to  our 
successors,  or  shall  we  manfully  face  the  problem  and  endeavour,  with 
God's  help,  to  provide  a  better  equipment  for  every  one  who  is  ready 
to  obey  his  Master's  command,  when  He  says,  "  Feed  My  lambs"? 

s 


258  World's  Third 

"But,"  it  will  be  asked,  "how  is  this  training  to  be  provided? 
Who  is  to  take  the  initiative?  Who  are  to  be  responsible  for  its 
provision  ? "  The  answer  to  the  first  of  tliese  questions  is  by  no 
means  an  easy  one,  but  there  is  one  method  of  aflbrding  training  to 
our  teachers,  wliieh  seems  to  us  feasible,  and  this  we  will  presently 
indicate.  First,  however,  let  us  deal  with  the  responsibility  for 
making  tliis  provision ;  and  it  is  much  easier  to  fix  the  responsibility 
than  to  convince  and  stir  to  action  those  who  ought  to  assume  it. 
The  church  has  already  recognised  that  it  is  to  some  extent  respon- 
sible for  the  religious  training  of  the  young,  and  has  proviiled 
suitable  buildings  for  this  purpose ;  but  here,  unless  it  be  perhaps 
to  appoint  a  superintendent  and  finance  the  undertaking,  the  sense 
of  responsibility  ends.  This,  however,  is  a  very  perfunctory  method 
of  discharging  so  grave  a  duty.  The  Sunday  school  is  a  vital  i)art  of 
the  church,  and  no  church  is  complete  without  it.  It  is,  or  should  bo, 
the  church's  nursery ;  and,  just  as  a  mother  is  anxious  to  provide  a 
teacher  of  unquestionable  fitness  for  the  educating  of  her  family,  so 
the  church  should  jealously  guard  her  children  against  the  evils 
consequent  upon  incfficiejit  religious  instruction.  They  are  a  "  loan  " 
from  God  of  which  the  church  should  take  especial  heed,  for  "one 
day  it  will  be  required  back  with  high  recojnpense  or  else  with  heavy 
penalty."  The  church  then,  wo  affirm,  is  responsible,  and  it  is  to  this 
institution  that  we  ought  to  look  to  provide  the  means  of  training, 
which  is  so  obviously  necessary  for  our  Sunday-school  teachers.  It  is 
a  duty  which  the  church  owes  to  the  young,  to  provide  for  them 
suitable  teachers;  and,  in  fact,  to  take  the  same  interest  in  their 
spiritual  welfare  as  the  natural  parents  do  in  their  intellectual 
progress.  Many  colleges  have  been  established  for  the  training  of 
preachers  ;  and  several  years  of  residence  in  these,  spent  in  study  and 
practice,  are  deemed  essential  to  qualify  for  the  ofiice  of  preacher. 
But  whilst  this  has  been  done  for  the  benefit  of  the  older  members  of 
the  church,  the  claims  of  the  children  to  improved  teaching  have  been 
ignored.  We  act  like  those  who  send  the  carefully-trained  and 
experienced  gardener  to  attend  the  mature  plants,  but  commission 
the  apprentice-hand  to  look  after  those  which  are  the  youngest  and 
tenderest,  and  which  require  the  greatest  skill  in  tiieir  management. 
The  Sunday-school  class,  as  well  as  the  church,  should  have  the  best 
instructors  obtainable. 

As  to  the  means  to  be  adopted  fur  the  training  of  our  Sunday-school 
teachers,  it  seems  to  us  that  our  present  ministerial  colleges  aftbrd 
excellent  opportunities  for  this  purpose ;  that,  without  any  great 
difficulty,  these  institutions  might  be  made  centres  of  training,  not 
only  for  ministerial,  but  also  for  Sunday-school  work ;  and  that  our 
ministers  might  be  qualified  for  the  important  duty  of  rendering 
assistance  tc  those  engaged  in  the  Sunday  school,  as  well  as  for  the 
office  of  preaching.  Were  this  done,  it  would  assist  very  materially 
in  bringing  into  closer  contact  the  church  and  the  school,  and  in 
creating  a  stronger  bond  of  sympathy  between  them,  with  the  result 


Sunday  School  Convention.  259 

that  both  would  be  benefited  'considerably.  Tliere  is  no  adequate 
reason  ^Yhy  this  should  not  be  done.  And  we  cannot  conceive  of  a 
minister,  possessing  the  spirit  of  his  Master,  who  would  feel  otherwise 
than  glad  to  be  able  to  be  of  service  either  to  the  children  or  to  their 
instructors.  The  Sunday-school  teachers  are  his  colleagues  ;  they  are 
practically  assisting  him  in  his  work ;  and  it  is  only  fair  to  expect 
that,  with  superior  advantages,  he  should  be  able  to  render  them  some 
assistance  in  their  difficult  task.  We  do  not  ask  that  the  minister 
should  take  the  management  of  the  Sunday  school,  or  even  tliat  he 
should  teach  a  class  in  it ;  but  we  do  ask  that  he  might  be  so  trained 
in  college  as  to  be  of  service  to  those  who  work  in  the  same  vineyard, 
but  are  without  the  advantages  of  special  preparation. 

With  regard  to  the  methods  to  be  pursued  in  the  training  colleges, 
these  must  of  necessity  be  more  or  less  adapted  to  existing  circum- 
stances. A  professor  of  education  might  be  attached  to  each  college, 
or,  what  would  be  better  still,  an  itinerant  lecturer  could  be  employed 
for  a  group  of  three  or  four  colleges  to  give  a  course  of  lectures  annually 
in  each.  These  lectures  would  embrace  psychology,  Sunday-school 
organisation  and  management,  and  the  best  methods  of  imparting 
religious  instruction.  Model  lessons  would  be  given,  and  the  students 
might  be  aiibrded  opportunities  for  actual  work  in  the  Sunday  schools 
of  the  neighbourhood.  The  lecturers  appointed  must,  of  necessity,  be 
practical  teachers,  thoroughly  conversant  with  all  the^duties  attached  to 
Sunday-school  work,  and  acquainted  with  the  methods  of  management 
in  our  best  existing  Sunday  schools.  They  should  also  be  equal  to 
the  task  of  suggesting  various  plans  to  meet  a  variety  of  difficulties. 
The  students,  thus  equipped,  on  leaving  college  and  being  appointed 
to  ministerial  duties,  would  at  once,  we  believe,  exhibit  an  intelligent 
interest  in  their  Sunday  schools,  and  would  take  the  earliest  oppor- 
tunities of  aiding  both  officers  and  teachers  in  their  work.  At  the 
quarterly  or  monthly  meetings  they  would  be  able  to  make  suggestions 
with  regard  to  the  organisation  and  management  of  the  school ;  whilst 
from  week  to  week  they  could  meet  the  teachers  and  assist  them  in 
preparing  their  lessons,  pointing  out  the  various  methods  of  presenting 
the  truths  to  be  taught,  and  also  indicating  the  principles  upon  which 
these  methods  are  based.  They  would  probably  supplement  these 
efforts  by  giving  occasionally  a  lesson  in  the  presence  of  the  teachers, 
so  as  to  illustrate  the  methods  they  have  already  suggested.  Were 
this  scheme  adopted,  the  present  difficulty  of  securing  teachers  with 
some  amount  of  training  would  be  greatly  obviated.  Candidates  for 
the  position  of  teacher  might  be  required  to  attend  the  preparation 
class  a  certain  number  of  times,  and  to  give  proof  of  ability  to  prepare 
and  teach  a  lesson  before  being  appointed. 

Until  the  church  realises,  however,  the  immensity  of  its  responsibility 
with  regard  to  the  young  entrusted  to  its  care,  we  can  scarcely  hope 
for  a  full  accomplishment  of  these  suggested  improvements.  In  the 
meantime  it  behoves  every  one,  who  has  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
young  at  heart,  to  do  his  utmost  to  hasten  the  time  when  the  children's 

s  2 


260  World's  Third 

claims  to  more  eflBcicnt  instruction  shall  be  recognised ;  and  when  the 
youthful  portion  of  society  shall  be  regarded  as  that  which  is  most 
amenable  to  religious  instruction,  and  therefore  worthy  of  the  very 
best  that  can  be  provided  for  it. 

THE   PLACE   OF   THE    CHILD   IN  THE   MEMBERSHIP 
OF   THE   CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

By  Mr.  G.  C.  Turner,  F.L.S.  (Leicester). 

Unquestioxably  this  is  the  day  of  the  child.  As  never  before,  the 
child  and  its  claims  are  noticed  alike  by  legislature  and  teacher ;  as 
never  before,  the  world  is  alive  to  the  fact  that  "  prevention  is  better 
than  cure" — schools  are  being  built  and  prisons  are  being  pulled 
down;  as  never  before,  environment  is  being  studied,  and  much  is 
being  done  to  clear  away  stumbling-blocks  and  to  lessen  the  difficulties 
and  dangers  which  so  frequently  beset  child-life.  Never  before  has 
the  Sunday-school  numbered  so  many  scholars,  or  included  so  many 
workers  in  its  ranks,  and  never,  on  the  whole,  were  teachers  so  well 
trained.  For  all  this  we  may  well  be  devoutly  thankful ;  but  it  is 
acknowledged  on  all  hands,  inside  the  school  as  well  as  outside,  that 
the  school,  tried  by  the  test  of  practical  results — that  is  the  number 
of  scholars  passed  by  it  into  the  Church — is  altogether  inadequate 
considering  the  number  of  workers,  the  machinery  employed,  and  the 
material  to  hand.  In  the  present  pajier  it  is  proposed  to  glance 
briefly  at  the  question  of  child  membership,  and  to  offer  some 
suggestions  whereby  more  satisfactory  results  are  likely  to  be 
obtained. 

There  are  three  great  institutions  concerned  in  tlie  welfare  of  the 
child— 

The  Home. — The  Church. — The  State. 

This  last,  being  outside  the  scope  of  our  paper,  must  be  dismissed,  and 
attention  confined  to  the  two  former  institutions.  To  facilitate  our  con- 
siderations of  each,  it  may  be  well  to  set  down  for  comparison  first,  the 
ideal,  then — reduced  to  the  average — the  actual. 

The  Ideal  Home. 

"  He  settcth  the  solitary  in  families."  Here  we  have  a  hint  of  God's 
plan,  and,  in  iho  early  days,  the  home  was  the  church,  the  father  at 
once  the  priest  and  the  law-giver.  The  centuries  have  rolled  by,  and 
times  have  changed,  but  we  must  never  lose  sight  of  God's  original 
plan.  In  the  ideal  home,  the  father  is  still  the  priest,  and  father  and 
mother  together  seek  prayerfully  strength  and  wisdom  to  faithfully 
discharge  tiie  tremendous  responsibility  which  God  has  placed  in  their 
hands,  and  they  will  so  order  their  household  affairs,  that  no  occasion 
of  Btumbling  be  given  to  the  little  ones ;  they  will  train  their  children 


Sunday  School  Convention.  261 

"  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  And  then,  naturally 
and  easily  the  little  ones  will  grow  up  into  Christ,  without  any  violent 
shock  or  convulsion — perhaps  without  any  conscious,  definite 
impression  as  to  time  and  place — hut  nevertheless  really  and  truly 
"  grafted  in  Him." 

Kichard  Baxter  tells  us  that  he  was  at  one  time  greatly  troubled 
about  his  own  conversion,  because  he  could  not  call  to  mind  when  it 
took  place,  till,  tracing  his  experience  as  far  back  as  he  could,  he  found 
that  he  had  been  saved  too  soon  to  recollect ;  and,  as  a  result  of  his 
own  experience,  he  says,  "  I  do  verily  believe  that  if  parents  did  their 
duty  as  thoy  ought,  the  word  publicly  prcaclied  would  not  be  the 
ordinary  means  of  regeneration  in  the  Church,  but  only  without  the 
Church  among  practical  heathen  and  infidels." 

The  Eeal  Home. 

In  many  cases  we  can  almost  dismiss  this  with  a  word — indifference^ 
responsibilities  unrealised,  inconsistencies  in  a  thousand  and  one  little 
things^nconsistencies,  of  which  the  parent  may  be  all  unconscious, 
but  which  are,  nevertheless,  "  plain  as  daylight "  to  the  child. 
"  The  children  ?  Yes  !  I  send  them  to  Sunday  school — I  like  them  to 
go.  They  are  better  there  than  at  home  on  Sunday  afternoons." 
With  this  too  often  ends  the  religious  culture  of  the  child,  as  far  as  the 
parents  are  concerned.  To  get  them  out  of  the  way  on  the  Sunday 
afternoon,  and  to  have  the  comfortable  feeling  that  "somebody"  is 
looking  after  them  and  trying  to  teach  them  to  be  good,  is  indeed  like 
"  killing  two  birds  with  one  stone."  The  thought — "  It's  only  the 
children,  it  doesn't  matter,"  prevails  instead  of,  "It  is  the  children,  it 
does  matter." 

And  now  let  us  consider  our  subject  proper — the  Church. 

The  Ideal  Church 

is  one  which  has  a  large  place  for  the  child.  It  recognises  the  fact 
that  when  God  established  a  peculiar  covenant  between  Himself  and 
his  servant  Abraham,  of  which  circumcision  was  the  sign,  children  by 
that  ordnance  became  members  of  the  Jewish  Church,  that  children 
thus  admitted  by  God  Himself  have  never  been  put  out  again  by  the 
same  authority,  and  that  they  still  have  the  right  to  be  there  eveu 
though  they  may  not  be  members  in  the  most  full  and  complete  sense 
till  they  have  repented  and  believed  the  Gospel. 

The  ideal  church  has  deeply  impressed  upon  it  the  command  of 
Christ — among  His  last  words — "Feed  My  Lambs,"  and  puts  the 
tending  of  the  lambs  in  the  front  rank  of  its  duties,  and  of  them 
it  asks,  as  they  grow  in  years,  the  question,  not  "  Will  ye  come  ?  "  but 
"  Will  ye  go  away  ?  " 

Yes.  The  Church  is  doing  a  grand  work  when  it  stretches  out  a 
hand  to  the  lapsed  masses,  "  to  wrestlers  with  the  troubled  sea,"  but 
it  is  doing  a  grander  work  still  when  it  saves  the  child. 


262  World's  Third 

The  Real  Church 

has  never  quite  kuovra  what  to  do  with  the  child,  it  was  a  problem 
she  could  not  solve  ;  how  was  it  possible  to  make  anything  out  of  such 
unpromising  material,  such  restless  activity,  such  wandering  attention, 
such  hopeless  instability  ;  what  could  you  do  witli  it?  And  one  can 
imagine  the  sigh  of  relief  wiiich  tho  Churcli  gave  when  Robert  Raikes 
came,  and,  by  organising  the  Sunday  school,  relieved  tlie  church,  to 
some  extent  at  least,  of  her  responsibilities  in  this  direction.  And 
to-day  there  are  few  things  that  the  Church  has  not  learned  to  do 
better  than  to  care  for  and  train  the  young.  Her  services  arc  often  so 
unsuitable  that  teachers,  in  sheer  despair,  have  organised  separate 
services  for  the  children,  thus  practically  training  them  in  non-attend- 
ance at  the  House  of  God  with  the  inevitable  result  that  when  too  old 
for  the  separate  service  the  scholars  prefer  a  walk,  when  school  is  over, 
rather  (han  go  to  that  which  they  have  come  to  think  of  as  no  place  for 
them.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  hymn  book  in  general  use  in  the 
largest  cliurch  in  the  world  has  no  hymn  for  the  young  between  its 
covers,  the  children'tj  hymns  are  quite  distinct — in  the  Sunday-school 
hymn  book.  In  some  churches  the  needs  of  the  young  are  considered 
to  have  been  met  by  the  establishment  of  catechumen  classes — the 
very  name  being  sufficient  to  strike  terror  into  the  heart  of  the  child, 
or,  at  least,  to  produce  a  feeling  of  distaste  in  the  mind. 

And  now  we  must  pass  on  to  consider  the  place  of  the  Sunday 
school,  and  we  arc  forced  to  admit  that  in  an  ideal  state  there  seems 
hardly  any  room  for  the  school,  the  home  and  the  church  would  bo  so 
near  that  there  would  be  no  chasm  to  be  bridged  over,  and  the 
transition  from  the  one  to  the  other  would  be  natural,  as  a  matter  of 
course.  To  say  that  the  position  of  the  school  is  unscriptural  would 
be  to  say  too  much,  for  we  have  evidence  that  both  in  Old  Testament 
and  New  Testament  times  there  were  voluntary  workers  engaged  in 
instructing  the  young;  but  the  work  is  purely  voluntary — tliere  is  no 
scriptural  command  for  it. 

It  is  no  part  of  our  subject  to  review  the  work  achieved  by  the  Sunday 
school  since  its  f3r.■^t  inception  toward  the  close  of  the  last  century.  It 
has  splendidly  justified  its  existence,  it  has  done  magnificent  work ; 
but  it  can  and  will  do  better. 

The  Sunday  school  has  not  lacked  critics,  some  friendly  and  some 
unfriendly,  and,  to  its  praise,  it  must  be  said  that  it  has,  on  tho 
whole,  listened  attentively  to  what  the  critic  has  had  to  say,  and  then 
sought  to  profit  by  the  advice  gratuitously  pntffered.  There  is  hope 
for  a  man  who  can  bear  to  be  told  his  faults — it  tells  of  humility,  tho 
highest  Christian  virtue ;  and  this  is  true  of  an  institution  likewise. 

What  have  the  critics  said  ? — "  Sunday-school  teachers  have  tho 
'first  innings'  with  the  majority  of  the  English  children  to  this  end, 
three-fourths  leave  tiiem  the  very  first  opportunity." 

"  Tlie  Sunday  school  passes  on  five  per  cent,  of  its  scholars  to  the 
church,  ninety-five  per  cent,  she  fails  so  to  influence." 


Sunday  School  Convention.  263 

And  the  school  has  had  to  admit  that  there  is  only  too  much  reason 
for  such  complaints;  but  the  situation  is,  as  we  have  said,  full  of 
hope — not  so  much  that  the  Sunday-school  workers  have  gained  right 
methods  as  that  there  is  a  general  eager  desire  to  improve  or,  if 
necessary,  discard  the  present,  though  perhaps  time-honoured, 
methods. 

And  this  brings  us  to  notice  a  new  movement. 

We  have  said  that  the  Church,  whose  duty  to  a  child  was  second 
only  to  that  of  the  parents,  failed  in  the  discharge  of  that  duty  and 
was  glad  to  delegate  it  to  the  Sunday  school,  and  now  it  almost  seems 
as  if  the  Sunday  school,  having  so  largely  failed  to  solve  the  i^roblem 
of  the  child,  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour  was 
saying  to  a  school,  "Let  us  try  to  deal  with  tlie  children — we  can 
show  you  a  more  excellent  way."  And  the  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.  Las  set  up  a 
standard  wliicli  the  Sunday  school  should  have  unfurled  a  century  ago 
— a  standard  with  the  emblazoned  watchword  "  For  Christ  and  the 
Church."  The  Sunday-school  teacher  thought  the  best  of  all  mottoes 
was  "  My  class  for  Jesus,"  and,  as  a  rule,  shrank  from  seeking  to 
attach  the  children  under  his  care,  in  early  youth  at  least,  to  any 
particular  Church,  dreading  to  proselytise  children  of  parents  of  every 
denomination  or  of  no  denomination,  shuddering  at  the  very  name 
of  sectarianism — a  thing  that  has  wrought  untold  havoc  in  the 
Church. 

Having  thus  very  briefly  reviewed  the  actual  position  of  affairs,  it 
is  time  that  some  remedial  suggestion  should  be  brought  forward. 

The  church  and  the  school  must  be  drawn  closer  together,  as  has 
been  so  often  insisted  on ;  the  school  must  be  the  very  porch  of  the 
church,  the  gulf  at  present  existing  must  be  bridged  over  somehow, 
and  it  belongs  to  the  church  to  make  the  first  move  toward  a  closer 
union.  The  matter  can  only  be  settled  by  earnest  prayerful  conference, 
but  it  does  seem  necessary  that  the  church — and  in  this  expression  we 
include  all  Sunday-school  workers — should  once  and  for  ever  revise  its 
conception  of  the  child  in  its  membership — the  child  born  within  her 
pale,  of  Cliristian  parents,  belongs  to  the  church,  and  it  is  her  bounden 
duty  to  meet  in  some  definite  scientific  way  the  spiritual  necessities 
of  the  child.  And  here  it  may  be  well  to  turn  to  the  words  of  Christ 
concerning  the  little  ones — 

"And  Jesus  called  a  little  child  unto  Him,  and  set  him  in  the 
midst  of  them  and  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  be  converted 
and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven." 

Here  is  the  object-lesson  of  the  ages — the  little  child.  There  is 
something  in  the  child  which  man  has  lost,  and  this  must  be  regained 
ere  Heaven  is  won.  Yes  !  The  childlike  mind  must  be  regained  ere 
the  sinner  can  be  right  with  God ;  but,  practically,  the  Church  has 
held  the  theory  that  the  child  must  serve  an  apprenticeship  to  the 
devil,  and  then,  by  deep  repentance  and  scalding  tears,  enter  the 
Kingdom. 


2G4  World's  Third 

Is  there  Scriptural  warraut  for  tliis?  "Why  not  retain  the  child? 
Whj'  suffer  him  to  go  astray  ? 

The  theory  of  the  established  Church  of  England  on  this  matter 
seems  correct  enough,  as  far  as  theory  is  concerned,  but  it  must  be 
admitted  that  it  has  broken  down  in  practice.  But  can  wc  not  hold 
the  theory  and,  by  every  care  and  device,  sec  that  it  does  not  break 
down  in  practice  ?  That  it  is  converted  into  an  actual  living  reality  ? 
As  children  were  admitted  into  the  Jewish  church  by  the  rite  of 
circumcision  cannot  we  formally  receive  even  the  child,  as  a  child, 
into  our  Church?  It  has  been  beautifully  saitl,  "God  trusts  them  to 
us,  these  little  ones — flowers  of  such  grace  and  beauty  as  grow  not  in 
the  plains  of  Heaven.  There  is  something  quite  awful  when  wu 
attempt  to  measure  it  in  the  trust  which  God  has  reposed,  and  still 
reposes  in  a  being  so  hard,  so  selfish,  so  faithless  as  man."  Is  the 
Church  to  be  for  ever  faithless  to  this  trust  ? 

Daniel  Webster  once  asked  Thomas  Jefferson  the  patriotic  question 
— "What  is  to  be  the  salvation  of  our  nation?"  After  a  pause, 
Jefferson  replied — "  Our  nation  will  be  saved,  if  saved  at  all,  by 
teaching  the  children  to  love  the  Saviour." 

"He  that  loveth  is  born  of  God."  A  little  cliild  can  love — it  must 
love — it  is  a  necessity  of  its  nature.  It  is  ours  to  direct  that  love  to 
its  proper  object.  Catechetical  training  is  right— excellent  in  its 
place ;  but  let  it  take  it^  proper  place — after  love,  not  before  it.  Do 
not  let  us  take  our  catechisms  and  make  of  them  a  ring  fence  round 
the  Church  which  shall  keep  the  children  from  passing  in ;  but,  since 
they  are  inside,  let  the  catechism  be  as  a  fence  which  shall  keep 
them  from  passing  out. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  churches  generally  are  awaking 
to  the  importance  of  the  child  as  a  member.  In  some  churches — 
notably  the  Methodist — there  is  a  distinct  provision  made  for  children 
and  young  people  in  the  shape  of  junior  society  classes,  and  in  the 
returns  for  18t)7,  recently  published  by  the  Wesleyan  Methodist  Society, 
we  learn  that  there  are  76,487  junior  members  already  enrolled  ouaJs 
books ;  these  are  not  counted  in  the  actual  membership  of  the  church, 
but  it  is  expected  that  the  great  majority  of  them  will  in  due  time 
graduate  as  adult  members ;  this  is  evidently  a  step  in  the  riglit  direc- 
tion. This  Church  also  in  its  annual  conference  in  1894  appointed  a 
special  committee  to  consider  "  What  steps  should  be  taken  in  order  to 
secure  the  extension  of  the  work  of  God  among  the  youth  of  Methodism, 
and  in  order  to  obtain  yet  larger  numbers  of  them  in  the  church." 
Surely  some  such  movement  as  this  is  needed  throughout  all  Christian 
churches ;  but  what  wc  most  urgently  plead  for  in  this  paper  is  that 
the  Church  should  apprehend  that  the  children  of  her  members  are 
hers,  and  to  her  belongs  the  responsibility  of  their  spiritual  welfare, 
not  that  the  Church  can  for  one  moment  take  the  responsibility  from 
the  parent,  but  that  she  shares  it  with  the  parent. 

And  now  concerning  the  children  born  outside  the  pale  of  tlie 
church — tliat  i.s,  of  parents  who  are  not  church  members,  who  may  be 


Sunday  School  Convention.  205 

utterly  indifferent,  wicked,  or  criminal, — cliildren  who  have  been,  to 
use  an  expressive  phrase, "  damned  into  the  world."  Though  we  may 
have  but  little  control  of  these— at  least,  so  far  as  their  earlier  years 
are  concerned — yet  we  must  never  forget  that  these  also  are  they 
"  for  whom  Christ  died,"  and  that  He  has  the  same  yearning  tenderness 
for  these  as  for  the  children  of  Christian  parents,  and  let  us  never 
wrong  them  by  saying  that  they  are  too  young  to  come  to  Christ.  Let 
us  remember  it  was  the  disciples  who  failed  to  fathom  the  mind  of  the 
Master  with  reference  to  the  child,  and  it  was  with  these  that  *'  He 
was  much  displeased."  Therefore  let  us  seek  to  know  the  Master's 
mind  on  this  subject,  and  ask  Him  for  such  sympathy,  for  such  love, 
for  such  humility  as  shall  make  our  religion  winsome  and  attractive 
even  to  a  child.  Let  us  choose  our  best  teachers  for  the  infant  classes 
not  only  those  who  have  in  them  sympathy  and  love  for  the  children, 
but  who  have  also  firm  faith  in  the  soil  as  well  as  in  the  seed  ;  and  in 
addition  to  these  qualifications,  let  them  be  well  trained  in  their  work 
— trained  to  know  how  the  restless  little  ones  may  have  their 
wandering  attention  riveted.  The  writer  well  remembers,  many 
years  ago,  his  first  experience  of  Sunday-school  work.  He  was  asked 
to  take  the  infant  class  as  a  supply,  the  teacher  himself  being  unable 
to  be  present.  On  the  understanding  that  there  was  no  difficulty,  that 
the  children  were  easily  managed,  he  consented,  and  in  ten  minutes 
was  reduced  to  a  condition  of  hopeless  despair ;  there  was  no  difficulty 
to  the  trained  teacher ;  to  the  untrained  one  nothing  seemed  so  difficult 
as  to  get  the  children  to  listen  to  a  word  he  had  to  say.  Training  is 
an  all-important  qualification. 

In  conclusion,  a  word  as  to  results.  While  it  is  true  on  the  one  hand 
that  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  them — results  belong  to  God — it  is 
right  that  we,  having  obeyed  the  command,  having  performed  the 
duty,  should  "  exi)ect  great  things  from  God ;  "  having,  as  parents  and 
as  workers  in  the  King's  service,  striven  loyally  and  faithfully  to  do 
His  behests,  may  we  not  expect  that  He  will  honour  our  foil,  and  that 
our  children  shall  be  as  Israel's,  springing  up  "  as  among  the  grass,  as 
willows  by  the  water-courses,"  that  is,  that  life  in  them  shall  be  life 
indeed — full,  ample,  luxuriant — that  in  them  shall  be  beauty,  grace, 
and  strength,  characters  which,  alas !  those  who  are  brought  to  Christ 
in  later  years  so  often  lack  ? 

"  Lycurgus,"  says  Plutarch,  "  resolved  the  whole  business  of 
legislation  into  the  bringing  up  of  youth."  And  it  may  be  that  in  the 
dawning  of  the  twentieth  century,  the  Christian  Church  will  discover 
for  herself  that  which  the  heathen  law-giver  apprehended  three 
thousand  years  ago — the  value  of  the  child. 


206  World's  Third 


SUNDAY  SCHOOLS  AND  PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS. 

By  Mr.  A.  W.  "Wkbsteu  {London). 

The  major  part  of  the  success  of  tho  Sunday  school  movement  as  au 
agency  for  tho  true  Christian  training  of  the  young,  can,  I  tiiink, 
witlumt  doubt  be  traced  to  the  fact  tliat  but  a  limited  number  of 
childreu  have  been  placed  under  the  charge  of  one  Cliristian 
worker. 

The  class  system,  modified  to  suit  circumstances,  has  therefore 
commended  itself  to  all  cxperieuccd  Sunday  school  workers,  and  it 
is  now  the  almost  universal  system  ou  which  ordinary  Sunday  schools 
are  organised. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  many  of  the  recent  advances  made  in 
the  organisation  of  secular  education  have  also  tended  in  the  direction 
of  treating  the  child  as  a  unit  rather  than  in  the  mass. 

If  results  in  the  Sunday  school  and  in  connection  with  the  extension 
of  secular  education  have  confirmed  the  wisdom  of  this  policy,  it 
seems  desirable  to  discuss  the  necessity  for  extending  the  system  to 
all  public  institutions  in  which  children  are  cared  for. 

Amongst  a  considerable  variety  of  Institutions  such  as  orphanages, 
homes,  workhouses,  and  district  schools,  industrial  schools,  reforma- 
tories, &c.,  to  be  found  throngliout  the  country,  it  was,  until  quite 
recently,  a  very  rare  exception  to  find  connected  with  any  of  them  a 
Sunday  school  organised  on  modern  lines  and  staffed  by  voluntary 
workers. 

lu  most  well-conducted  institutions,  such  as  have  been  named,  it 
has  been  the  practice  to  try  and  meet  the  needs  of  the  children  by 
conducting  services  adapted  to  suit  the  circumstances. 

In  some  cases  these  services  are  doubtless  well  managed,  and  effect 
a  certain  amount  of  good,  but  it  is  no  injustice  to  say  that  iu  many 
instances  they  are  almost  entirely  devoid  of  anything  lilcely  to  interest 
the  children  or  to  produce  any  lasting  effect  on  their  moral  and 
spiritual  character. 

As  most  of  the  orphanages  and  kindred  institutions  have  .sprung 
into  existence  and  contiuue  to  be  maintained  through  active  practical 
Christian  sympathy,  it  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to  stimulate  sufficient 
additional  interest  so  as  to  arrange  that  a  band  of  Sunday  school 
workers  should  bo  organised  to  begin  operations  in  many  of  these 
establishments. 

Several  of  the  ijiore  prominent,  and  I  think  I  may  add  wiser, 
founders  of  homes  for  children,  such  as  Dr.  Barnardo,  Rev.  C.  H. 
Spurgcon,  and  others,  discerned  from  tho  first  that  however  efficient 
a  staff  of  officials  they  might  succeed  in  getting  together,  -it  was 
necessary  to  counteract  the  mechanical  existence  of  institutional  life 
by  supplementing  their  labours — devoted   and  self-sacrificing  as  in 


Sunday  School  Convention.  267 

the  majority  of  instances  they  are — with  such  services  as  a  baud  of 
efficient  Sunday  school  teachers  are  capable  of  rendering. 

Ouc  of  the  purposes  of  this  paper  is  to  direct  the  attention  of 
managers  of  similar  institutions  to  the  object  lesson  on  this  subject 
which  they  can  find  at  the  places  named. 

While  I  believe  most  sincerely  that  the  introduction  of  the  Sunday 
school  movement  would  supply  a  much  needed  element  in  the 
character-training  power  of  the  very  best  managed  orphanages  or 
homes,  I  am  more  strongly  convinced  of  the  necessity  for  the 
introduction  of  such  work  to  our  State  institutions  such  as  "  work- 
house schools,"  "district  schools,"  "industrial  schools,"  "reforma- 
tories," and  "  truant  schools,"  in  which  are  placed  the  very  class  of 
neglected  and  refractory  children  who  require  all  the  careful  and 
prayerful  oversight  and  guidance  which  Christian  people  can  bestow 
upon  them,  and  who  in  the  i^ast  have  been  deprived  of  many  of  the 
elevating  and  broadening  influences  which  even  the  children  in  most 
of  the  orphanages  and  homes  have  enjoyed. 

Chiefly  owing  to  the  devoted  and  keenly  practical  interest  of 
Mr.  H.  J.  Cook,  late  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Forest 
Gate  District  School,  in  which  about  650  to  700  children  from  two 
East  Loudon  Unions  are  cared  for,  I  was  honoured  some  seven  years 
ago  by  receiving  a  commission  from  the  South  Essex  Auxiliary  of  the 
Sunday  School  Union  to  organise  a  band  of  Christian  workers  who 
would  undertake  the  pioneer  work  of  establishing  a  Sunday  school  in 
this  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  country  to  open  its  doors 
for  such  an  experiment. 

In  a  pamphlet  entitled  '  Sunday  Schools  in  the  Workhouse,' 
published  by  the  Sunday  School  Union  at  one  penny,  I  have 
described  the  inception  and  early  history  of  that  work.  To-day  I 
am  able  to  announce  that  the  movement  has  made  such  progress,  that 
in  1896  it  was  commended  by  a  departmental  committee  appointed 
by  the  Local  Government  Board  "to  inquire  into  the  existing  systems 
for  the  maintenance  and  education  of  children  under  the  care  of 
managers  of  district  schools  and  boards  of  guardians  in  the  metro- 
polis," and  that  it  has  been  successfully  introduced  to  many  work- 
house schools  in  diifereot  parts  of  the  country. 

Let  me  briefly  summarise  wliat  the  band  of  sixty  Sunday  school 
teachers  do  for  the  children  in  Forest  Gate  District  School,  and  those 
who  are  at  all  familiar  with  the  mechanical  routine  of  institutional 
life  will  at  once  see  what  an  amount  of  additional  variety,  brightness, 
and  character-forming  power  has  been  imparted  into  the  life  of  this 
establishment : — 

(a)  Sunday  school  conducted  in  ordinary  class  from  3  to  4  p.m.  on 
Sundays. 

(b)  Library  containing  800  volumes.  Books  issued  on  alternate 
Sundays  to  boys  and  girls  at  close  of  school. 


268  World's  Third 

(c)  Brauch  of  J.B.Tl.A.    300  members. 

(d)  Baud  of  Hope  hold  fortnightly. 

(e)  Good  Newa  Baud  (kind  of  Cliriatiau  Endeavour  Society) 
weekly. 

(/)  Magic  lantern  and  other  cutertainmcnts  in  winter, 

(f/)  Occasional  evening  classes  for  preparation  of  subject  set  for 
yf'riiituro  examination,  choir  practice,  &c. 

(/()  Teachers  take  their  classes  out  for  rambles  to  places  oi  interest, 
and  to  their  own  homes  at  Christmas. 

(t)  Girls  sent  to  situations  in  tlic  locality  are  periodically  visited 
by  Sunday  school  teachers  on  behalf  of  the  Metropolitan  Association 
for  Befriending  Young  Servants. 

(J )  Friendless  boys  placed  in  situations  by  the  Guardians  are 
looked  after,  irrespective  of  locality,  by  a  society  of  which  myself  and 
another  member  of  our  staff  are  the  hon.  secretaries. 

(k)  A  fete  is  also  organised  by  the  Sunday  scbool  teachers  and 
held  in  the  grounds  of  the  school  yearly,  the  whole  of  the  profits 
going  to  defray  Sunday  scliool  expenses  and  to  provide  an  excursion 
fund  for  the  children. 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  introduction  of  a  Sunday 
school  to  such  institutions  has  been  beneficial  in  the  highest  degree, 
and  if  statistics  in  connection  with  competitive  work  give  some 
indications,  as  I  think  they  do,  of  the  interest  which  the  children 
themselves  take  in  the  work,  we  are  not  without  convincing  proofs  to 
strengthen  this  contention. 

For  the  past  five  years  the  Forest  Gate  District  School  has  sup- 
plied one-fourth  of  the  total  candidates  entering  for  the  Sunday 
School  Union  Scripture  Examination  in  the  South  Essex  Auxiliary 
which  has  over  ninety  schools  affiliated. 

Although  the  standard  of  education  required  by  the  Local  Govern- 
ment Board  for  poor  law  children  is  far  below  that  fixed  by  the 
Education  Department  for  Board  and  A'oluntary  Schools,  yet  these 
children  have,  in  each  yearly  competition,  shown  a  decidedly  superior 
knowledge  of  the  subject  set  for  examination  as  compared  with  the 
average  candidate  possessing  the  advantages  of  higher  education  and 
home  training. 

It  should  be  understood  that  the  entries  from  schools  of  this 
description  are  practically  limited  to  the  "Junior"  and  "Lower 
Middle  "  divisions,  as  the  children  are  sent  to  situations  by  the  time 
tliey  reach  the  necessary  age  for  competing  in  the  higher  divisions, 


Sunday  Sclioot  Convention,  269 

find  indeed  many  of  the  "  Lower  Middle "  division  children  are  but 
"  half-timers  "  at  school. 

In  1898  this  school  secured  the  following  award  in  the  local  com- 
petition, the  percentages  of  success  being  slightly  below  that  obtained 
in  the  previous  year : — ■ 

8  Prizes, 
59  First-class  Certificates, 
88  Second-cTass  Certificates. 

In  the  Norwood  and  Penge  Auxiliary,  children  from  the  Elder 
Road  School,  which  is  the  property  of  the  Lambeth  Guardians,  and 
into  which  a  Sunday  school  was  introduced  some  three  years  ago, 
were  entered  for  the  same  examination  and  obtained  in  the  local 
competition : — 

8  Prizes, 
37  First-class  Certificates, 
97  Second-class  Certificates. 

I  question  whether  there  are  two  other  Sunday  schools  of  similar 
size  in  England  which  can  show  equally  satisfactory  results. 

In  a  recent  choir  competition,  open  to  all  Sunday  schools  afiiliated 
with  the  Sunday  School  Union  in  London,  a  choir  of  boys  from  the 
Forest  Gate  District  School  took  second  prize,  and  was  very  highly 
commended  by  Dr.  MacNaught,  the  adjudicator.  Tlie  average  age 
of  the  choir  taking  first  place  was  from  four  to  five  years  older 
than  that  of  these  boys,  and  its  members  had  an  extensive  piize- 
wiuning  experience  in  addition. 

These  figures,  I  think,  ought  to  be  sufficiently  suggestive  to  point 
out  a  direction  in  which  may  be  found  a  profitable  sphere  of  operation 
for  the  really  earnest  Sunday  school  worker,  who  I  trust  is  thirsting 
for  new  fields  to  conquer. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  Government  inspectors,  the  managers 
of  Poor  Law  Schools,  Industrial  Schools,  and  Reformatories  all  over 
the  country  have  found  themselves  comparatively  powerless  in  their 
eiforts  to  keep  in  touch  with  any  considerable  proportion  of  the 
children  brought  up  under  their  care,  after  they  have  been  discharged 
from  their  schools.  Where  intelligent  Sunday  school  teachers  have 
been  permitted  to  enter  such  institutions,  they  have  largely  supplied 
this  missing  link,  and  have  been  of  great  service  to  many  entirely 
friendless  young  people,  who,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  are  not  infrequently 
taken  mean  advantage  of  by  unprincipled  people,  into  whose  employ- 
ment, or  under  whose  authority  they  may  hajipen  to  be  brought  by 
stress  of  circumstances. 

For  the  guidance  of  friends  who  may  seek  to  extend  this  particular 
branch  of  work  to  any  institution  in  their  own  district,  I  give  here 
copies  of  two  papers  used  by  us  in  connection  with  a  scheme  we 
started  for  looking  after  friendless  boys  connected  with  our  own 
sehool. 


270 


World's  Third 


(^Form  to  be  filed  in  hij  visitors.) 

FOREST  GATE  DISTRICT  SCHOOL. 

Society  for,  the  Caue  of  Boys  After  Leaving  School. 

Hon.  Secretaries:  A.  W.  Webster  axd  A.  J.  Neville. 


Name  aud 

Address. 


Name,  Address,  and 

Occupation  of 

Employer. 


Age  and  Date  of 

leaving  School. 


Length  of  time  in 
Forest  Gate  School. 


Present  asre. 


Length  of  service . 

How  many  places  the  boy  has  had„ 

Bedroom  accommodation 

Sunday  occupation 

Habits  of  saving 

Attendance  at  classes 


Future  prospects  of  boy 

Enquiry  as  to  disposition  and  attention  to  duties . 
General  remarks 


Visitor's  Name- 
Address — ■ 


This  Form  should  be  returned  before  the  end  of  March,  June,  Septem- 
ber or  December,  addressed  to  the  Hon.  Secretaries,  Society  for  the  Care 
of  Boys,  Forest  Gate  District  School,  Forest  Gate,  London,  E. 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  VISITORS. 

For  some  time  the  Managers  of  Forest  Gate  District  School  have  been 
desirous  of  more  effectually  supervising  and  aiding  the  Boys  who  have 
been  brought  up  under  their  charge,  after  leaving  the  school.  As  no 
society  or  organisation  for  such  work  existed,  a  band  of  voluntary 
workers,  who  for  some  years  have  conducted  a  Sunday  school    in  the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  271 

institution,  have  undertaken  to  attempt  the  oversight  of  this  class  of 
children,  and  to  submit  periodical  reports  of  results  to  the  Managers  of 
the  school. 

We,  therefore,  earnestly  solicit  the  kind  aid  of  friends  who  will  under- 
take to  visit  the  boys  placed  in  their  respective  localities.  For  the 
guidance  of  such,  we  append  a  few  points  it  is  desirable  to  observe  in 
such  work. 

The  employer  of  each  boy  has  undertaken  to  admit  a  visitor. 

The  visitor  should  put  himself  in  communication  with  the  employer 
first,  and  then  see  the  boy  alone. 

After  the  first  visit,  it  may  be  better  to  drop  in  without  notice. 

Although  reports  are  only  required  quarterly,  it  is  desirable  that 
visitors  should  embrace  additional  opportunities  of  meeting  the  boys 
under  their  care. 

Some  may  be  able  occasionally  to  invite  them  to  their  houses. 

The  importance  of  an  early  introduction  to  suitable  friends  and 
associations  cannot  be  over-estimated.  Probably  visitors  might  find  local 
y.M.C.A.'s,  Bible  Classes,  or  other  societies  of  good  moral  and  spiritual 
tone  suitable  as  starting  points  for  finding  desirable  friends. 

The  visitor  will,  doubtless,  find  that  he  needs  tact,  patience,  and 
perseverance  to  perform  his  somewhat  delicate  and  important  duties 
satisfactorily.  There  may  be  a  suspicion  on  the  part  of  some  employers 
that  the  visit  is  inquisitorial  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  boys 
may  show  too  ready  a  tendency  to  complain.  In  'any  cases  of  difficulty 
both  sides  should  be  impartially  heard,  being  ready  to  give  both  the 
employer  and  boy  credit  for  the  best  intentions,  yet  remembering  that  while 
employers  have  their  rights,  they  have  also  their  duties,  and  vice  versa. 

The  Hon.  Secretaries  of  this  Society  are  known  to  the  boys  as  their 
former  Sunday  school  teachers,  and  as  the  boys  are  more  likely  to  be 
approachable  through  this  connection  than  by  other  means,  visitors  will 
know  how  to  use  this  information. 

The  Metropolitan  Association  for  Befriending  Young  Servants, 
wMch  I  have  previously  named,  has  for  the  past  twenty  years  cared 
for  friendless  girls  discharged  to  situations  in  London  from  these 
schools,  and  it  has  been  our  privilege  to  act  as  local  honorary  secre- 
tary and  provide  visitors  from  our  staif  of  Sunday  scliool  teachers, 
not  only  to  look  after  girls  sent  to  service  from  the  school  in  which  we 
labour,  but  also  to  take  an  interest  in  those  brought  up  in  similar 
schools  elsewhere,  who  may  engage  themselves  to  situations  in  our 
locality. 

If  such  work  as  I  have  described  has  already  been  found  so  useful 
and  necessary,  and  has  already  been  successfully  established  in  con- 
nection with  a  few  institutions,  surely  there  must  be  many  more  in 
which  tlie  managers,  if  properly  approached,  would  readily  welcome 
similar  assistance. 

May  I  commend  this  work  to  tlie  attention  of  local  Sunday  School 
Unions,  and  in  doing  so  let  me  assure  them  that  the  energy  spent  in 


272  World's  Third 

this  direction  will  be  found  to  stimulate  every  department  of  Sunday 
school  work  in  their  neighbourhood. 

A  Sunday  school  started  under  the  auspices  of  a  local  Sunday 
School  Union,  in  a  public  institution,  will  almost  necessarily  have  to 
be  managed  on  undenominational  lines,  and  experience  has  shown 
that  a  school  organised  and,  in  a  sense,  controlled  by  the  com- 
mittee of  a  local  union,  can  be  made  a  centre  of  usefulness  for  the 
surrounding  district. 

It  will  be  apparent  that  such  an  arrangement  gives  the  committee 
an  opportunity  of  concentrating  the  combined  wisdom  of  many 
experienced  workers  upon  the  administration  of  one  school,  and 
thus  in  time  it  will  enable  tliem  to  create  a  "  Model  School "  in 
their  district. 

The  sphere  in  which  the  Forest  Gate  School  has  proved  of  most 
service  to  other  schools  in  the  locality  is  that  of  teacher  training. 
Being  undenominational,  it  is  free  from  the  danger  of  proselytising, 
and  officers  of  schools  belonging  to  various  denominations  are  thus 
more  ready  to  encourage  their  young  people  to  come  for  a  course  of 
training,  especially  as  they  have  an  assurance  of  their  return  at  the 
end  of  their  term  of  instruction. 
The  plan  followed  is  this — 

In  the  autumn  of  each  year  we  get  together  a  number  of  young 
Christians  desirous  of  being  trained  in  the  theory  and  practice  of 
Sunday  school  teaching. 

We  put  them  at  first  in  our  infant  department  for  about  six 
months.  This  class  is  in  charge  of  an  experienced  teacher  who  opens 
the  school  in  the  usual  devotional  way,  and  then  gives  six  or  seven 
little  ones  as  a  class,  to  each  of  the  young  people  who  is  expected  to 
teach  them  for  ten  or  twelve  minutes,  after  which  the  children  are 
again  massed  in  the  gallery,  and  the  lesson  is  taught  by  the  experi- 
enced teacher,  watched  by  the  students.  During  part  of  this  period  of 
their  training,  the  young  people  arc  taken  into  another  room  as  soon 
as  their  practical  teaching  is  done,  when  lectures  of  twenty  minutes' 
duration  are  given  on  the  theory  of  teaching ;  the  '  Sunday  School 
Teachers'  Manual'  is  used  as  a  text-book,  and  this  we  supplement 
with  special  lectures  on  various  aspects  of  eye-teaching,  including 
blackboard,  picture,  and  object  lessons. 

On  the  completion  of  this  course  we  divide  our  students  into  two 
groups  of  five  or  six  each,  and  put  them  into  two  rooms,  where  children 
one  or  two  stages  older  than  the  infants  are  placed.  In  one  of  these 
rooms  we  have  an  experienced  worker  wlio  watches  over  matters,  and 
who  fills  any  gap  and  rectifies  any  hitch  or  slip,  but  whose  chief  work 
is  to  keep  the  young  people  up  to  taking  their  turn  at  all  departments 
of  the  work. 

Into  the  second  room  we  send  five  or  six  of  our  brightest  students 
who  equally  share  the  responsibilities  of  managing  the  whole  of 
the  work  without  supervision,  except  a  look  in  from  myself  as 
superintendent. 


Suiida)/  School  Convention. 


273 


One  teacher  in  each  of  these  rooms  fills  in  replies  to  the  followiiif 
questions,  and  hands  them  to  me  monthly  : — 


Date 


^Vho  con-  'Who  led  Class 
ducted  open-  in  reading  of 
ing  Exercises  ?       Scriptures  i 


Who  gave 

closing 
Address  ? 


Was  Blackboard, 

Picture,  or 

Objects  used  ? 


Who  con- 
ducted closing 
Exercises  ? 


By  this  means  I  am  kept  fully  informed  of  the  progress  of  our 
students. 

The  time  occupied  in  each  section  of  the  work  in  these  rooms  is 
about  as  follows  : — ■ 

*  Minutes. 
Opening  exercises  including  reading  of  Scriptures   .   15  to  20 
Teaching  in  classes        ......        20 

Address  on  the  lesson  to  all  the  scholars  .         .        15 

Closing  exercises  .         .         .         .         .         .         .     5  to  10 


Every  young  teacher  is  by  this  means  induced  to  acquire  power 
and  confidence  in  the  performance  of  other  duties  besides  merely 
teaching  a  class.  As  a  rule  they  take  their  turns,  although  some  are 
more  nervous  than  others.  One  conducts  opening  exercises,  all 
engage  in  class  teaching,  a  second  gives  the  address,  and  a  tliird 
closes,  the  duties  being  reversed  on  the  next  Sunday  when  the  same 
three  take  charge  of  the  room. 

Although  all  do  not  turn  out  equally  capable,  the  great  majority  of 
those  trained  on  this  plan  can  certainly  take  an  intelligent  lead  in 
almost  any  section  of  Sunday  school  work. 

Of  course  this  plan  can  be  modified  or  extended  as  circumstances 
permit :  but  I  am  convinced  that  if  we  are  to  have  good  teachers  in 
the  future,  we  must  begin  to  train  them  at  the  senior  scholar  stage, 
and  also  mix  practice  and  theory  as  much  as  possible. 

We  introduced  the  teaching  of  the  theory  on  Suuday  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  getting  all  the  students  together  on  a  week  evening. 

For  the  sake  of  the  children  brought  up  in  public  institutions,  and 
for  tlie  general  advancement  of  the  Master's  Kingdom,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  Sunday  school,  I  plead  for  your  sympathy  and 
help  in  extending  this  work. 

P.S. — As  arranged  at  one  of  the  sessions  of  the  Convention,  I  am 
now  adding  to  this  paper  a  short  description  of  a  Teachers'  Dedication 
Service,  which  I  introduced  to  Forest  Gate  Congregational  Church 
in  1897. 

T 


274  JVorhVs  Third 

After  securing  tlie  hearty  ai^proval  of  the  pastor  and  deacons  to  the 
proposal,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  at  a  church  meeting  that  all 
Sunday  school  teachers  connected  with  the  Church  should  be  publicly 
set  apart  for  their  work  cither  at  a  special  service  or  at  the  usual 
monthly  Church  meeting. 

A  special  service  was  arranged  to  initiate  this  new  departure,  and 
over  eighty  teachers  iJresented  themselves  for  ordination. 

The  pastor  and  the  superintendents  of  two  out  of  the  three  schools 
interested  shared  the  conduct  of  the  .service,  and  a  copy  of  the 
following  covenant  was  presented  for  signature  to  each  of  the  teachers. 


THE  TEACHER'S  COVENANT. 

(1)  I  PROMISE  to  be  in  my  place  punctually  every  Sabbath  at  the  time 
appointed  unless  prevented  by  sickness,  or  some  other  cause  so  urgent 
that  it  would  in  like  manner  keep  me  from  important  worldly  business. 

(2)  I  PR03ii.SE  in  every  such  case  of  enforced  absence  that  I  will  use 
my  utmost  diligence  to  secure  a  suitable  substitute,  to  whom  I  will  give 
full  details  as  to  the  character  of  the  class  and  the  nature  of  the  duties  to 
be  performed. 

(3)  I  PROMISE  to  study  carefully  beforehand  the  lesson  set  for  teaching, 
and  to  have  the  subject  in  my  mind  during  the  week  with  a  view  to  the 
laying  hold  of,  and  laying  up  for  use,  anything  I  may  meet  with  in  my 
reading  or  experience,  likely  to  illustrate  or  enforce  the  lesson  of  the 
approaching  Sabbath. 

(4)  I  PROMISE  to  be  diligent  in  informing  myself  about  the  books  in 
the  library,  so  that  I  can  guide  my  scholars  in  selecting  such  books  as 
will  interest  and  profit  them,  also  in  becoming  acquainted  with  other 
good  books  and  tracts,  so  that  I  may  be  prepared  as  occasion  may  arise,  to 
lead  their  minds  into  right  channels  of  thought. 

(5)  I  PROMISE  whenever  a  scholar  is  absent  from  the  class  on  two 
successive  Sabbaths,  that  I  will  visit  that  scholar  before  the  succeeding 
Sabbath,  unless  prevented  by  sickness  or  by  some  other  hindrance  so 
grave  that  it  would,  under  like  circumstances,  keep  me  from  attending  to 
important  worldly  interests. 

(6)  I  PROMISE  to  visit  statedly  all  my  scholars,  that  I  may  become 
acquainted  with  their  families,  their  occupations,  and  modes  of  living  and 
thinking,  their  temptations,  their  difficulties,  and  the  various  means  of 
reaching  their  hearts  and  consciences 

(7)  I  PROMISE  if  any  of  my  scholars  or  their  parents  do  not  attend  any 
place  of  worship,  that  I  will  make  the  case  known  to  the  pastor  and 
superintendent,  and  that  I  will  use  continued  ellbrts  to  induce  such 
children  and  their  parents  to  go  to  church  regularly. 


Sunda}/  School  Convention.  275 

(8)  I  PROMISE  that  every  day,  in  my  hour  of  secret  prayer,  I  will 
remember  by  name  each  one  of  my  scholars,  seeking  for  their  conversion 
if  they  are  still  out  of  Christ,  and  for  their  sanctification  and  growth  in 
grace,  if  they  are  already  converted. 

(9)  I  PROMISE  that  I  will  seek  an  early  opportunity  of  praying  with 
each  scholar  privately,  in  some  convenient  place  that  may  be  found,  with 
a  view  to  decision  for  Christ,  or  building  up  the  spiritual  life,  and  this  I 
will  continue  to  do  periodically  as  long  as  I  am  a  teacher,  confidently 
believing  that  if  I  plant  and  water  the  seed,  God  will  give  the  increase. 

(Signed) 

Teacher  in  School. 

Date 


THE   YOUNG  PEOPLE'S   SOCIETY  OF  CHRISTIAN 
ENDEAVOUR  AND  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

By  tlie  Rev.  W.  EInight  Chaplin. 

Editor  of  '  Christian  Endeavour '  and  Honorary  Secretary  of 
British  National  Christian  Endeavour  Council. 

When  working  ou  riglit  lines  the  Christian  Endeavour  Society  is  the 
greatest  ally  the  Sunday  school  has  ever  had.  The  two  organisations 
have  much  in  common,  and  labour  together  side  by  side  in  the  most 
promising  sphere  it  is  possible  for  Christian  workers  to  occupy.  The 
one  supplements  the  work  of  the  other.  Rivalry  between  them  is 
impossible,  and  jealousy  out  of  the  question.  Ever  since  God  gave 
Adam  a  helpmeet,  the  agencies  of  righteousness  have  gone  forth  into 
the  world  two  by  two  for  mutual  aid  and  comfort.  Moses  and  Aaron, 
Deborah  and  Barak,  Joshua  and  Caleb,  Elijah  and  Elisha  are  well- 
known  Old  Testameilt  instances.  Christ  sent  forth  His  disciples  two 
by  two.  Paul  in  prison  is  not  alone,  Silas  is  there  with  him.  Luther 
has  his  Melancthou,  John  Wesley  his  brother  Charles.  There  are 
deacons  and  deaconesses.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
and  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  are  sister  and  brother. 
The  missionary  who  teaches  must  be  accompanied  by  the  missionary 
who  translates,  and  the  missionary  who  heals. 

The  Christian  Endeavour  Society  rejoices  in  its  immense  constitu- 
ency numbering  over  three  millions,  but  all  these  inrst  belonged  to  the 
Sunday  school.  The  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour 
may  be,  as  Dr.  Clarke  describes  it,  a  "  half-way  house  to  the  Church," 
but  the  Sunday  school  has  been,  and  is,  and  rejoices  in  being,  the 
foundation  of  the  house. 

There  are  more  Sunday  school  teachers  in  the  Christian  Endeavour 
Society  than  there  are  in  any  three  or  four  other  Church  organisations 
put  together.     Botli  movements  are  inter-denominational   and  inter- 

T  2 


276  World's  Third 

national.  Anything  that  develops  spiritual  earnestness  among  the 
young  helps  the  Sunday  school,  and  this  the  Endeavour  Society  is 
doing  quietly,  faithfully,  and  with  rcniarkahle  success. 

It  is  frequently  observed  that  the  chief  difference  between  the  two 
movements  is  that  the  Sunday  school  studies,  and  the  Young  People's 
Society  practises.  To  a  considerable  extent  this  is,  perhaps,  true. 
In  the  first  the  young  people  are  moved  upon ;  in  the  second,  they 
move  themselves  and  others.  Someone  has  said  that  "  in  the  Sunday 
school  the  "Word  of  God  is  central,  and  prayer  to  God  is  subordinate. 
In  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour  this  condition 
is  reversed."  But  before  quite  endorsing  this  it  is  necessary  to  add 
that  the  Endeavour  Society  is  also  strongly  Biblical.  A  member  of  a 
Christian  Endeavour  Society  is  pledged  to  daily  reading  of  the  Bible, 
and  no  agency  has  ever  been  more  fruitful  in  advancing  Bible  study 
among  the  young  than  the  Christian  Endeavour  prayer-meeting — with 
the  single  exception  of  the  Sunday  school  itself. 

A  striking  feature  of  Christian  Endeavour  Bible  study  is  that  there 
is  no  teacher.  It  is  doubly  profitable  because  it  is  so  largely  self- 
prompted.  The  Sunday  school  teacher  has  not  achieved  his  truest 
success  until  he  has  made  his  scholars  think  for  themselves.  In  this 
attempt  to  inspire  original  thinking  on  Biblical  themes,  the  Sunday 
school  finds  its  most  useful  ally  in  the  Young  People's  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavour. 

It  has  come  to  be  clearly  understood  that  Christian  Endeavour  has 
its  distinctive  field  midway  between  the  Sunday  school  and  the 
Church.  It  is  "  the  golden  linJi."  Its  peculiar  function  is  to  intercept 
young  men  and  women  when  they  begin  to  think  that  they  have 
outgrown  the  Sunday  school  ;  to  lead  them  into  the  Church,  and  to 
fit  them  to  lie  active,  enthusiastic  and  worthy  Church  members  In 
adult  years  and  throughout  life.  In  discharging  this  function  the 
Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour  is  chiefly  a  training 
school.  Its  work  is  to  train  the  young  rather  than  to  teach  them, 
or  at  any  rate  to  make  whatever  teachhig  it  does  subordinate  and 
subservient  to  training.  It  sets  every  member  at  work,  and  never 
lets  him  leave  off.  Exercise  of  power,  enlistment  of  talent,  the  fire 
and  energy  of  youth,  the  voice  of  song,  the  cheerful  smile,  the  hand- 
grasp,  the  pleasant  greeting,  the  word  spoken,  the  prayer  offered,  the 
contagion  of  youthful  enthusiasm,  in  fact  every  good  thing  of  which 
the  young  people  are  capable,  permeated  and  filled  with  the  Spirit  of 
God;  all  this  is  brought  into  ardent,  victorious  service,  "for  Christ 
and  the  Church." 

In  Great  Britain  the  Sunday  school  did  more  than  any  other 
institution  could  have  done  to  foster  and  develop  the  Endeavour 
Society  in  its  earlier  days.  Tlie  child  is  now  helping  the  parent,  or, 
in  other  words,  the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour  is 
paying  back  in  effective  service  some  part  of  the  debt  which  it  owes 
to  the  Sunday  school.  One  of  tho  many  committees  organised  in  most 
Christian   En  leavour  societies  is  the  "Sunday  School   Committee." 


Sunday  School  Convention.  277 

The  duties  of  this  Committee  are  defined  in  tlie  Model  Constitution  in 
these  words : — 

"  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  bring  into  the  Sunday 
school  tliose  who  do  not  attend  elsewhere,  and  to  co-operate  with  the 
superintendent  and  officers  of  tlie  scliool,  in  any  way  which  they  may 
supfgest  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sunday  school.'' 

I  may,  perhaiDs,  be  permitted  to  indicate  some  of  the  ways  in  which 
these  committees  and  tiic  societies  generally  are  helping  the  schools. 

In  many  places  tlie  assistance  takes  the  form  of  getting  neio  scholars. 
Recruiting  squads  are  formed,  and  prove  very  useful  adjuncts.  The 
recruiting  squad  for  each  week  consists  of  the  members  of  a  certain 
class,  appointed  by  the  Sunday  school  committee,  who  make  it  their 
special  endeavour  to  bring  in  new  scholars  during  the  week.  The 
superintendent  makes  public  announcement  of  the  result  of  the  work 
of  each  squad,  and  after  all  tiie  classes  have  had  their  tuin,  the 
Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour  Snnday  School  Com- 
mittee entertains  the  class  that  has  brought  in  the  most  scholars. 
Some  committees  obtain  the  names  and  addresses  of  children  who  may 
be  secured  as  new  scholars  by  distributing  to  the  classes  blank  papers 
neatly  folded,  with  spaces  in  which  the  scholars  may  write  the  names 
of  children  whom  they  know,  and  who  attend  no  Sunday  school. 
Each  paper  contains  the  name  of  the  member  of  the  committee  to 
whom  it  is  to  be  returned  when  filled  in.  Occasionally  the  Sunday 
School  Committee  carries  out  a  thorough  canvass  of  the  Church  an.l 
community,  seeking  for  new  scholars.  As  preparation  for  this  canvass, 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  generally  calls  upon  the  pastor  and 
school  superintendent,  and  goes  over  the  list  of  Church  members  with 
them,  learning  what  families  do  not  attend  the  Sunday  school.  Upon 
some  of  these  the  pastor  probably  advises  that  calls  should  be  made, 
and  in  the  majority  of  cases  these  calls  prove  fruitful  of  good  results. 
With  regard  to  those  who  are  not  members  of  any  Church,  the 
committee  makes  a  very  bold  canvass,  dividing  the  town  into 
districts,  and  assigning  each  district  to  two  members  of  the  committee. 
If,  instead  of  a  town,  the  committee  is  dealing  with  a  large  city,  or 
that  portion  of  it  which  is  tributary  to  the  Church,  the  services  of 
other  members  of  the  society  are  called  into  requisition,  and  calls  are 
made  at  each  house. 

Helj}  is  given  to  the  Sunday  school  hy  the  Young  People^s  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavour  in  shepherding  absentee  scholars,  care  being 
always  taken  to  avoid  trenching  in  any  way  upon  the  province  of  the 
teachers.  Most  Sunday  school  teachers  are  more  than  happy  to  have 
the  assistance  of  the  Endeavourers  in  this  work.  When  scholars  are 
sick,  the  members  of  the  Christian  Endeavour  Sunday  School  Com- 
mittee often  write  them  pleasant  letters  and  send  them  little  presents 
of  fruit  and  flowers. 

Help)  is  frequently  given  in  teaching.  This  is  best  done  when  the 
Endeavour  Society  organises  a  regular  substitute  teachers'  class, 
consisting  of  those  members  who  are  able  and  willing  to  fill  a  gap  in 


278  WorhVi!  Third 

an  eiuorgeucy.  This  class  generally  consists  chiefly  of  the  members 
of  the  Sunday  school  committee.  One  of  the  best  teachers  obtainable 
is  i^laced  in  charge  of  tlie  class,  and  every  week  the  lesson  for  the 
next  Sunday  is  carefully  studied.  Even  where  only  three  or  four  arc 
banded  together  in  this  way,  the  class  proves  an  inestimable  blessing 
to  the  superintendent  and  to  the  school. 

The  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavour  also  affords  help 
in  the  Sunday  school  on  special  occasions.  On  "  Review  Day,"  for 
instance,  the  Sunday  school  committee  often  renders  valuable  assist- 
ance. On  one  occasion  of  which  I  have  heard,  the  committee  selected 
twelve  Endeavourers,  cacli  of  whom  spoke  briefly  before  the  school, 
reviewing  in  turn  the  lessons  of  the  quarter. 

In  all  these  ways  and  many  more,  the  Christian  Endeavour  Society 
is  rendering  assistance  to  its  elder  sister  in  the  Chinch  family,  (,ho 
Sunday  school.  Of  course  there  is  another  side  to  all  this,  and  much 
might  be  said  upon  "  How  the  Sunday  school  can  help  the  Christian 
Endeavour  Society."  Both  can  render  incalculable  service  in  ad- 
vancing the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom,  by  increasing  the  emphasis 
that  is  put  on  things  spiritual  and  evangelistic.  The  teaching  in 
both  Sunday  school  and  Christian  Endeavour  Society  is,  of  course, 
evangelical  and  devotional,  and  interwoven  witli  it  and  growing  out 
from  it  should  be  the  one  great  aim  of  winning  souls  for  Christ.  One 
of  the  most  promising  fields  for  evangelistic  effort  is  the  Sunday 
school,  and  in  that  field  every  Christian  Endeavourcr,  like  every 
Sunday  school  teacher,  desires  to  become  a  home  missionary,  fired 
with  aijostolic  zeal  and  fully  equipped  with  the  quickening  and  sus- 
taining power  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  27*J 


FOURTH  DAY.— TWELFTH  SESSION. 

Friday  Evening. 
GREAT  PUBLIC  MEETING  IN  QUEEN'S  HALL. 

The  twelftli  and  concluding  meeting  was  lield  in  the  Queen's  Hall, 
Langham  Place,  on  Friday  evening.  The  following  selection  of 
music  was  rendered  by  the  Loudon  Sunday  School  Choir,  conducted 
by  Mr.  William  Binns  : — 

Anthem—"  Break  forth  into  joy." 

Hymn  No.  42 — "  Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs." 

Anthem — "Lift  up  your  hearts." 

Hymn  No.  43 — "  Hark  the  song  of  Jubilee." 

The  Most  Noble  the  Marquis  of  Northampton  took  the  chair  at 
seven  o'clock.  After  the  singing  by  choir  and  audience  of  the  hymn 
"All  people  that  on  earth  do  dwell,"  prayer  was  offered  by  Dr. 
William  Burt,  of  Kome.  The  Marquis  of  Northampton  then  rose 
amidst  loud  applause  to  deliver  his  address.     He  spoke  as  follows :  — 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  friends  and  supporters  of  the  Sunday  school 
movement,  we  are  now  about  to  commence  the  closing  meeting  of  the 
Convention.  I  am  not  going  to  say  "farewell,"  though  I  am  certain 
that  all  those  who  are  connected  with  the  Sunday  School  Union  in 
England  wish  you  well,  and  pray  that  you  may  fare  well.  I  am  not 
going  to  bid  you  "  good-bye,"  although  I  prefer  that  old  English 
word  to  the  "farewell,"  as  it  means  "God  be  with  you";  we  pray 
that  also.  But  I  am  going  to  wish  you,  as  our  French  friends  say, 
"  au  revoir"  or,  as  our  German  friends  say,  "  auf  Wiederselien,"  to  our 
next  meeting,  wherever  it  may  be,  and  that  many  of  us  may  live  to 
join  together  once  more  in  a  great  and  mighty  convention  of  Sunday 
schools.     (Cheers.) 

I  was  glad  to  hear  the  opening  prayer  of  Dr.  Burt,  for  I  think  he 
struck  in  that  prayer  the  note  that  has  been  sounded  throughout  the 
whole  of  this  Convention,  namely,  that  we  had  met  together  in  order 
to  strengthen  each  other  with  one  purpose  and  one  mind,  a  community 
of  purpose  that  must  ensure  success.  At  our  opening  meeting  we 
prayed  for  God's  guidance  and  God's  blessing.  And  again  I  was 
glad  to  hear  what  Dr.  Burt  said ;  he  thanked  God  for  the  blessing  He 
had  sent.  It  would  be  want  of  faith  on  our  part  if  we  did  not  believe 
truly  and  firmly  that  God  has  blessed  the  Convention.  For  we  know 
that  He  does  answer  prayers  that  are  offered  up  faithfully  to  Him. 


280  World's  Third 

And  not  only  was  prayer  oft'ered  up  by  ourselves  for  His  blessing,  but 
I  feel  certain  that  througliout  the  world  thousands  of  teachers  who 
have  not  been  able  to  come  to  the  Convention,  and  a  vast  number  of 
those  twenty-five  million  scholars  who  are  passing  through  the 
teachers'  hands,  have  been  uniting,  too,  in  one  great  chorus  of  prayer 
to  God  Almiglity  that  great  results  miglit  follow  from  this  Convention. 
One  proof  of  that  I  have  just  received  to-night  in  the  form  of  a 
telegram  from  .Spezzia  in  Italy,  which  I  will  read  to  you :  "  May  an 
abundant  blessing  come  down  on  Sunday  school  work  throughout  the 
world  on  all  its  friends  at  Queen's  Hall. — From  Edward  Clark  and 
friends  of  the  Spezzia  Mission  Bible  Day  Schools,  with  over  900 
scholars."  (Cheers.)  Thire  we  have  a  proof  positive  of  the  prayers 
that  have  been  offered  up.  Do  we  doubt  that  those  prayers  have  l)een 
listened  to?  We  cannot  doubt  it.  For  what  is  it  we  have  all 
prayed  for  ?  The  expansion  of  God's  own  work,  and  that  we  should 
be  guided  aright  in  ord.er  to  extend  that  work. 

We  of  course  know,  human  that  we  are,  that  we  want  much  we  do 
not  possess,  both  individually  and  collectively.  We  want  more  faith, 
more  hoj^e,  and  more  love :  more  foith,  so  that  wo  may  be  in  reality 
children  of  God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ;  more  hope,  that  with 
confident  expectation  we  may  look  for  the  blessed  and  glorious 
appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ;  more  love, 
for  faith  worketh  by  love — more  love  for  our  God,  more  love  for  our 
neighbour,  so  that  we  may  set  about  our  work  unhindered,  devoting 
every  spare  moment  to  that  work,  and  not  wasting  time  in  criticising 
and  finding  fault  with  others  who  jjerhaps  may  not  agree  with  us,  but 
who  are  doing  their  work  in  their  own  way.     (Clieers.) 

With  more  faith,  more  hope,  and  more  love  what  could  not  be 
done  in  this  great  world?  You  remember  what  Paul  wrote  to  the 
Thessalonians :  "  For  from  you  sounded  out  the  word  of  the  Lord,  not 
only  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  but  also  in  every  place  your  faith  to 
Godward  is  spread  abroad."  That  is  the  kind  of  faith  we  require, 
that  will  spread  abroad  "in  every  place" — none  omitted.  And  it  is 
all  the  more  important  at  the  present  moment  when  we  see  great 
Christian  nations  stretching  their  borders  farther  and  farther 
throughout  the  world.  We  see  the  United  States  taking  the  im- 
mensely responsible  step  of  moving  outside  the  limits  of  their  own 
great  country  into  a  sphere  far  di.-tant.  Wherever  the  American  tlag 
may  be  Christianity  will  go  too ;  the  Sunday  school  must  follow  the 
American  flag.  (Loud  cheers.)  Then,  too,  Germany  is  moving  out : 
we  have  no  jealousy  of  our  German  friends  and  brotiiers,  and  we  hope 
that  wherever  the  German  flag  may  be  there  also  will  the  Sunday 
school  be  found.  Russia  too  is  a  Christian  country,  although  we  here 
perhaps  may  not  agree  with  her  form  of  Christianit}',  and  we  liope 
and  pray  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  those  who  wield 
authority  in  Russia  will  allow  the  Bible  to  be  preached  free  and 
unfettered  throughout  the  length  and  breatii  of  that  vast  empire. 
(Cheers.) 


Sunday  School  Convention.  281 

And  we  ourselves — have  we  done  everything  we  ought  to  have 
done?  Let  me  take,  for  example,  Egypt,  wliere  we  went  for  a  short 
time,  and  are  likely  to  remain,  it  would  seem,  for  ever.  (Laughter.) 
In  Egypt  there  is  some  good  work  being  done  by  American  missions — 
I  have  seen  not  a  little  of  it  myself — a  fine,  educational  and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  spiritual  work.  Ah,  there  is  a  country  where  more 
missions  ought  to  be,  and,  above  all,  more  Sunday  schools,  so  that 
the  children  may  be  taught  that  the  holiest  and  wisest  part  of  the 
household  is  the  mother.  (Cheers.)  If  we  Sunday  school  supporters 
could  bring  that  into  the  minds  of  future  generations  of  Egyptians, 
they  would  be  able,  not  perhaps  immediately,  but  in  a  time  not  very 
far  off,  to  govern  their  country  for  tliemselves.  But  so  long  as  the 
present  social  conditions  last,  so  long  as  Christianity  remains  outside 
the  limits  of  the  common  life  of  the  Egyptians,  we  shall  find  them 
unable  to  govern  tlie  country  as  it  shoidd  be  governed,  and  some 
strong  nation  must  govern  for  them. 

I  am  not  wishing  to  say  that  the  work  has  not  been  splendid  in  tl  ■ 
past.  I  am  not  speaking  in  a  pessimistic  sense.  I  don't  think  tliose 
who  know  me  will  suspect  me  of  pessimism.  (Hear,  hear.)  I  don't 
believe  a  Christian  can  be  a  pessimist.  I  realise  the  value  of  the 
work  done,  but  the  more  we  feel  that  the  work  is  really  God's  and 
His  alone,  the  more  we  must  acknowledge  the  necessity  of  the 
expansion  of  that  work,  the  more  we  must  use  our  best  endeavours 
that  not  one  part  of  the  world  shall  remain  without  Christian  teaching 
and  without  Sunday  schools.     (Cheers.) 

Now  the  Convention  is  drawing  to  a  close.  It  began  with  highest 
hopes.  I  think  it  has  ended  in  the  finest  way  a  convention  could  end, 
with  absolute  satisfaction  with  all  the  human  arrangements,  and  a 
deep  sense  of  the  divine  care  that  has  watched  over  us.  I  feel  sure 
the  exchange  of  views,  the  able  addresses,  the  valuable  information 
many  will  have  found  here,  will  help  the  Sunday  school  movement 
wherever  you  may  go.  But,  above  all,  the  feeliug  of  meeting 
together  as  fellow  workers  in  the  work  of  Christ  must  have  en- 
couraged visitors  and  visited  alike.  In  the  name  of  the  Sunday 
School  Union  I  bid  you  Godspeed,  and  pray  that  those  who  go  to 
distant  lands  may  return  safely  and  happily ;  that  in  those  distant 
lands  you  may  keep  an  affectionate  and  brotherly  recollection  of  us, 
and  a  loving  memory  of  the  meetings  that  have  been  held.  And  we 
pray  that  your  friends  and  our  friends  may  be  increased,  so  that  the 
word  of  the  Lord  shall  sound  and  resound  through  all  parts  of  the 
habitable  world.     (Loud  cheers.) 

A  number  of  addresses  were  then  given  by  representatives  from 
various  countries.  The  first  was  by  the  representative  of  Canada,  the 
Hon.  S.  H.  Blake,  of  Toronto. 

Mr.  Blake  said :  I  did  not  know  I  was  to  be  honoured  with  the 
first  place  as  a  speaker  this  evening.  I  had  hoped  the  southern  part 
of  our  continent  might  have  been  first  represented,  and  that  I  might 
have  gathered  up  some  crumbs  from  my  brothers'  addresses.     How- 


282  World's  Third 

ever  I  very  gladly  testify,  on  the  part  of  those  I  am  here  to  represent, 
with  what  inlinite  pleasure  we  met  and  with  what  great  regret  we 
separate.  I  desire  to  bear  testimony  to  the  admirable  nature  of  every 
arrangement  that  has  been  made,  the  careful  thought  and  the  kindly 
consideration,  and  that  cverytliiiig  that  could  have  been  done  has 
been  done  by  the  Committee,  of  whom  I  may  mention  especially  the 
names  of  Mr.  Towers,  Mr.  Liddiard,  and  3Ir.  Belsey.  (Cheers.)  I 
have  only  this  wish,  tliat  some  day  we  may  see  them  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  endeavour  to  repay  some  of  the  large  debt  we 
owe  to  them.  With  such  affection  have  we  been  met  that  we  at  once 
felt  we  belonged  to  the  same  family.  There  is  no  question  of  the 
loving-kindness  that  has  been  displayed  by  our  dear  brothers  and 
sisters  in  this  land. 

Then  it  may  be  asked,  my  lord,  as  we  part,  what  lessons  have  wo 
received  at  this  Convention?  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  general 
benefit  that  we  must  always  derive  when  we  meet  discussing  matters 
''>at  are  very  dear  to  our  hearts,  and  the  iron  sharixneth  the  iron; 
we  get  new  thoughts,  new  modes,  but  above  all  a  new  inspiration,  a 
new  desire  for  going  out  with  larger  measures  into  a  larger  field. 
And  how  small  do  all  the  little  political  horizons  look — where  it  is 
merely  a  junction  of  two  or  three  nations — when  we  take  no  lower 
standpoint  than  the  communion  of  the  whole  human  race.  How 
marvellously  enlarged  is  that  view,  and  I  cannot  help  but  think — the 
thought  has  been  revolving  in  my  mind  for  many  years  past — that  if 
we  have  the  nations  of  the  world  holding  out  a  hand  the  one  to  the 
other,  and  wanting  to  link  them  in  friendship  and  amity  and  good- 
will, a  very  large  measure  of  that  can  be  legitimately  traced  to  the 
humble  work  of  the  Sunday  school  teacher.  "  Retaliation  "  is  a  word 
that  is  unknown  with  them  ;  it  is  a  word  that  we  endeavour  to  cast 
out  of  the  dictionary  of  the  Sunday  school  child.  Retaliation  comes 
from  the  regions  below,  and  is  not  a  mellifluous  breath  from  the 
realms  above.  Do  good,  and  kill  your  enemy  by  kindness  if  you 
please.  (Cheers.)  We  have  no  alien  laws,  we  are  all  brought  near 
by  the  blessed  Lord  and  Master  beneath  whose  cross  we  shake  hands 
with  an  undying  friendship.  And  theiefore  I  do  not  think  I  am 
speaking  vain  words  when  I  say  tliat  I  have  honestly  come  to  the 
conclusion  tliat  a  full  generation  of  teaching  in  our  sabbath  schools 
has  done  more  under  God's  blessing  than  any  other  matter  in  this 
world  to  cause  the  holy  desire  to  cease  the  employment  of  war  and 
take  the  olive  branch  of  peace.     (Cheers.) 

I  am  thankful  also  that  we  have  had  exalted  as  it  should  be  the 
holy  spirit  of  the  living  God,  as  in  this  dispensation  the  means  of 
carrying  on  the  work  of  God ;  and  we  have  had  impressed  upon  us 
that  with  these  two  means,  God's  word  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in 
humble  dependence  upon  them,  the  work  is  to  be  carried  on.  "  Not 
by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord." 

I  am  glad  also  that  there  was  emphasised  the  fact  that  there  is  no 
learning,  that  there  is  no  organisation,  that  there  is  |nothing  that  cau 


Sunday  School  Convention.  283 

be  imported  into  the  Sunday  school  that  is  too  good  for  this  work, 
that  we  must  rise  to  the  very  highest  planes  of  intelligence  and 
spirituality  to  do  what  God  has  entrusted  to  us. 

I  was  much  struck  also  by  a  little  thought  that  may  illustrate  the 
work.  A  lad  was  going  quickly  along  the  street  when  he  stumbled 
up  against  a  very  respectable  old  gentleman.  The  gentleman  was 
much  annoyed,  and  turned  round  and  said,  "  Who  are  you  ?  "  The 
boy  replied,  "  I  am  the  stuff  they  make  men  of."  (Laughter.)  And 
God  has  given  to  us  twenty-five  millions  who  form  the  stuff  out  of 
which  men  and  women  are  to  be  made  within  a  few  short  years. 
Therefore  I  rejoice  that  we  have  risen  at  length  to  that  idea,  whether 
in  matters  of  temperance  or  any  others,  that  if  you  can  take  the  child 
and  mould  him,  you  have  made  the  man. 

Wo  have  liad  much  that  was  splendidly  practical.  We  must  bear 
it  all  away,  and  without  any  unreasonable  or  hard  and  fast  rule,  each 
in  liis  own  place  bring  into  use  the  splendid  baskets  full  of  sugges- 
tions tliat  have  been  given  to  ua  at  this  Convention.  If  there  is  one 
thought  beyond  all  others  that  we  must  not  omit  to  carry  away  with 
us,  it  is  that  of  responsibility.  Responsibility  God  has  cast  uijou  each 
one  of  us;  we  may  lose  health  and  wealth  and  position,  but  no  man 
can  ever  shake  from  him  the  responsibility  that  God  has  placed  upon 
his  shoulders.  Let  us  bear  away  with  us  nothing  less  than  the 
perpetual  tliought  of  our  responsibility  because  of  the  grand  oppor- 
tunities that  God  has  given  to  us. 

We  bear  back  with  us  the  pleasantest  reminiscences  of  this  visit, 
the  most  kindly  feelings  and  most  grateful  hearts.  Tliis  is  a  period 
never  to  be  forgotten ;  we  have  been  linked  more  closely  together  as 
co-workers  with  God ;  we  have  had  enlightenment,  we  have  had  an 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  have  had  sweet  communion.  And 
I  desire  that  our  loving  friends  here  shall  ever  bear  in  mind  that  we 
feel  it  was  good  to  be  here.  We  feel  with  thankfulness  of  heart  their 
affectionate  regard  for  us,  and  we  all  as  one  great  army  look  to  tliis 
gi'eat  central  point  of  the  world  and  pray  for  their  abundant  success. 
A  great  painter  toiling  over  his  picture  on  being  asked  why  so  much 
time  was  spent  over  that  one  portrait  answered,  "  I  paint  for  eternity." 
All  other  work  fades  into  insignificance  before  the  work  in  which  we 
are  engaged.  It  is  the  great  eternity  alone  that  can  show  the 
measure  and  the  value  of  the  work.  God  bless  this  Sunday  School 
Institute  and  bless  everyone  in  connection  with  it ;  may  He  give 
them  more  light  and  power,  and  make  them  a  blessing  the  whole 
wide  world  over,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.     (Cheers.) 

Bishop  Thoburn,  the  next  spe.aker,  said : — 

Some  years  ago  we  had  a  remarkable  gathering  of  our  missionaries 
in  Indian  Malaysia,  including  many  representative  native  teachers. 
We  were  together  five  days,  and  had  much  free  speaking.  At  the 
close  of  the  meetings  one  Hindostani  brother  made  a  remark  which, 
literally  translated,  runs :  "  It  has  done  me  good  to  come  here ;  it  has 
made  my  mind  broader  (or  wider)  than  it  was  before."     And  l.e  went 


284  World's  Third 

on  to  explain  how  meeting  people  from  different  countries  with 
diffortiit  ideas  and  tastes,  he  found  they  seemed  to  be  all  one  in  the 
gi'eat  essential  tliat  had  brought  them  together.  I  was  reminded  of 
that  remark  by  the  iulluence  of  this  gathering  upon  myself.  Every 
missionary  should  strive  to  be  a  broad  man ;  I  strive  to  keep  my  mind 
broad  enough  to  lake  in  not  only  new  ideas  but  new  responsibilities. 
And  there  come  times  similar  to  that  when  I  began  the  study  of 
astronomy  in  my  boyhood;  I  almost  seemed  then  to  feel  a  mental 
expausion,  a  new  world  opening  up  before  my  mental  jjowers.  Then 
later  on  there  came  a  time  when  the  h(!art  expanded,  the  sympathies 
were  enlarged  ;  it  seemed  more  than  a  doubling  of  one's  being.  That 
expansion  has  been  going  on  ever  since.  I  found  this  evening  that 
there  is  plenty  of  room  to  expand  still,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  and 
I  have  taken  in  the  great  ideas  put  before  us  as  well  as  I  could. 

Let  lis  consider  gome  of  those  ideas.  In  the  first  place  you  have 
a  broad  place,  a  broad  mission,  in  its  geographical  grasp.  You  touch 
all  the  nations  where  there  is  any  Christian  work  going  on  at  all,  and 
your  grasp  on  these  distant  regions  is  constantly  widening  and 
tightening.  There  is  a  responsibility  which  ought  to  make  you 
persons  of  broader  mind. 

Again  consider  the  matter  numerically.  Your  statistics  show  an 
increase  in  schools,  but  I  have  looked  upon  our  heritage  as  including 
a  great  many  who  are  not  called  Christians.  I  believe  that  if  Jesus 
Christ  were  visible  amongst  us,  and  some  mother  from  among  tliose 
called  heathen  brought  her  little  ones  to  Him,  He  would  receive  them 
in  a  moment  and  acknowledge  them  as  His  own.  (Cheers.)  We  too 
should  acknowledge  two  hundred  millions  of  little  ones  throughout 
the  world  as  belonging  to  us  by  the  right  of  inheritance  through 
Jesus  Christ.  And  we  have  a  responsibility  to  seek  the  children 
every  one  and  to  seek  them  all  the  time.  (Cheers.)  If  you  are  going 
to  have  that  breadth  of  mental  and  spiritual  and  heart  grasp  which 
you  ought  to  have,  you  must  take  in  that  great  idea. 

You  must  have  a  broad  view,  too,  in  the  extent  of  the  work  that  is 
lo  be  done  in  the  individual  heart  of  the  children.  First  of  all,  the 
spiritual  life  is  to  be  created  by  you,  under  God,  and  then  nurtured  by 
you  and  developed.  Every  Sunday  school  teacher  should  be  a  per- 
sonal spiritual  guide  to  the  children,  and  there  should  be  no  question 
whatever  of  the  possibilities  of  grace  in  relation  to  such  matters.  All 
things  are  possible  when  you  believe  you  have  Christ  as  Master  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  Guide. 

Then  you  have  what  I  may  call  the  Christian  culture  of  tiie  little 
ones.  You  will  give  them  the  first  bent  in  their  studies,  and  you  will 
create  tastes  that  will  be  profitable  for  them  in  after  life,  and  save 
them  from  the  pernicious  literature  which  no  one  at  the  present  time 
seems  to  think  it  worth  while  to  keep  away  from  our  children.  There 
has  been  no  time  in  the  last  hundred  years  when  people  were  so 
careless  about  letting  children  get  access  to  harmful  literature.  Not 
more  than  one  newspaper  in  ten  is  fit  to  put  into  the  hands  of  people 


Sunday  School  Convention.  285 

under  twenty-one,  and  I  do  not  think  thoy  ought  to  be  in  the  hands 
of  licople  over  twenty-one. 

You  have  a  great  mission  to  these  children  in  relation  to  their 
homes.  You  teach  a  hymn,  and  by  the  voices  of  the  little  ones  it 
reaches,  perhaps,  the  hut  of  a  mother  living  in  the  deepest  poverty, 
and  goes  in  as  a  ministering  angel  and  a  refining  instrument.  If 
there  is  any  one  thing  we  ought  to  guard  with  the  greatest  jealousy  it 
is  the  home.  (Cheers.)  There  is  an  assault  being  made  by  the  devil 
and  his  angels  upon  these  two  things — the  home  and  the  Sabbath . 
Americans  will  understand  that  better  than  you  English  folk,  for  the 
laxity  witli  regard  to  divorce  that  prevails  in  my  native  land  is  a 
thing  I  have  always  felt  it  my  duty  to  denounce.  But  I  am  alluding 
to  the  home  rather  in  its  general  sense.  A  Bengali  gentleman 
returned  to  India  impressed  with  what  he  had  seen  of  the  American 
home.  An  American  visitor  asked  this  man  to  translate  for  him.  On 
,  coming  to  the  word  "  home "  the  interpreter  seemed  embarrassed, 
which  was  the  more  surprising,  as  he  had  hitherto  been  translating 
with  the  greatest  fluency  and  ease.  "  Sir,"  said  the  Bengali,  "  in  the 
sense  in  which  you  use  the  word  'home,'  there  is  no  word  in  any 
Indian  language  that  will  express  the  idea."  In  the  non-Christian 
world — India,  Africa,  the  islands  of  the  sea — the  word  "home"  has 
no  place  in  any  vocabulary ;  they  simply  substitute  "  the  house," 
which  seems  to  be — according  to  the  popular  idea — more  like  the 
stable  of  the  horse  than  the  place  of  the  family.  The  hallowed 
Christian  word  "  home  "  will  have  to  be  introduced  to  all  the  outlying 
nations  of  the  world.  (Cheers.)  If  that  is  true,  see  that  you  guard  it 
in  Christian  lands,  and  in  this  work  which  God  has  given  you  you 
will  have  His  alliance. 

Some  ten  years  ago  Mr.  Gladstone  (loud  cheers) — it  sometimes 
happens  that  a  man's  name  is  worth  more  than  a  speech — Mr.  Glad- 
stone made  an  estimate  something  like  this:  that  a  hundred  years 
from  the  time  when  he  was  speaking  or  writing  there  would  be 
between  six  and  seven  hundred  millions  of  people  speaking  the 
English  language.  It  was  a  striking  remark,  and  attracted  much 
attention  at  the  time.  Later  estimates  have  not  much  changed  this ;  no 
one  tliinks  the  number  will  be  less  than  five  hundred  millions.  Take 
any  one  of  these  estimates  ;  yet  how  far  ofl:'  do  they  still  appear  to  be 
in  the  next  century.  I  have  a  son  who,  if  he  lives  to  be  as  old  as  I  am 
now,  will  teach  the  youths  and  children  who  will  be  in  places  of 
responsibility  when  the  threshold  of  tlie  twenty-first  century  is 
reached.  I  impress  him  and  he  will  impress  the  boys  who  will  be  in 
responsible  positions  when  the  first  day  of  the  twenty-first  century 
dawns.  It  is  only  a  hundred  years  away,  and  when  you  think  of  what 
has  been  accomplished  in  the  past,  it  seems  almost  within  our  reach. 
My  grandmother  formed  certain  opinions  politically.  When  my 
mother  heard  her  mother  talk  of  the  politics  of  those  times,  she 
imbibed  certain  principles — or  prejudices — she  passed  them  on  to  me, 
and  long  before  I  was  fourteen  years  of  age  I  had  adopted  political 


286  WorhVs  Third 

opinions  that  havo  never  clianp;o(l ;  nud  luy  two  sons  will,  if  their  lives 
are  spared,  carrj'  these  opinions  f:ir  into  the  next  century.  (Cheers 
and  laughter.) 

You  are  working  upon  a  generation  that  will  live  beyond  the  next 
century.  You  should  go  away  from  this  Convention  remembering 
that  there  will  Ix-  five  or  six  hundred  millions  speaking  th(-  English 
language  who  w'ill  have  adopted  the  type  of  character  whicli  tho 
children  in  your  classes  will  receive  from  you  and  will  reproduce. 
And  it  is  for  you  to  say  that  when  that  twenty-first  century  dawns, 
it  shall  dawn  upon  six  hundred  millions  who  will  Lc  Cliristians.  I 
say  nothing  of  our  German  friends,  Ixicausc  I  only  speak  English, 
and  it  is  upon  you  especially  that  I  would  urge  this  responsibility. 
These  millions  will  bo  influenced  by  your  action.  You  must  work 
and  influence  the  children  under  you,  as  those  who  can  see  beyond 
the  fleeting  years  of  the  twentieth  century  the  dawning  of  the  next. 
(Cheers.) 

THANKS  FROM  FOREIGN  DELEGATES. 

The  Chairman  :  I  call  upon  Mr.  McCrillis  to  present  resolutions 
from  America,  and  also,  I  believe,  from  the  Continental  delegates. 

Mr.  McCiiiLLis  (Rhode  Island):  It  was  arranged  that  one  of  the 
Colonial  delegates  should  present  the  resolutions  and  that  I  should 
have  the  honour  of  seconding  them  and  jn'osenting  them  for  adoption. 

The  Rev.  Aquila  Lucas  :  Mr.  President,  Christian  friends, — The 
foreign  delegates  desire  to  present  this  resolution  as  a  supplement  to 
those  brought  to  the  Convention  by  the  resolution  of  the  Convention 
this  afternoon.  Let  me  preface  it  by  a  few  words.  Since  we  entered 
England  we  have  been  lifted,  by  what  my  friend  Mr.  Jackson  would 
call  kangaroo  leaps,  from  bound  to  bound  by  the  exceedingly  great 
kindness  shown  to  us.  We  wish  to  make  mention  of  the  Sunday 
School  Union  at  Liverpool,  whoso  officers  met  more  than  200  of  us 
when  we  landed  early  on  Sunday  morning,  and  were  anxious  to 
arrange  a  meeting  by  which  they  could  give  us  a  hearty  welcome. 
Tlie  long-to-be-remembered  reception  by  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Lady 
Mayoress,  the  strung  instructive  meeting  accorded  us  by  tho  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  the  manifold  attentions  of  tho  officers  of 
the  London  Sunday  School  Union,  and  crowning  all  this,  the  concerts 
given  by  the  London  Sunday  School  Choir,  fuUowed  by  tliat  exquisite 
tea,  all  woven  in  with  tlieso  meetings  of  spiritual  strengthening,  will 
furnish  us — the  foreign  delegates — with  hallowed  memories  in  the 
years  to  come.  We  therefore  otter  the  following  resolution  :  "  Resolved, 
that  we,  the  foreign  delegates  desire  to  express  our  heartfelt 
thanks  to  our  English  ielluw-workers  and  to  assure  them  of  our 
earnest  prayers  and  willing  co-i>peruliou  in  their  efTorts  to  lift  the 
world  tu  C'lu'ist."     I  havo  great  pleasure  in  moving  this  resolution. 

Mr.  McCjiii.lis  :  IVIy  Lord,  as  Chairmim  of  the  American  delegates, 
I  am  more  than  hiippy,  I  am  exceedingly  glad,  to  have  the  privilego 


Sunday  School  Convention.  87 

of  seconding  this  motion.  I  am  aware,  your  Lordship,  that  it  may 
look  something  like  asking  yon  to  give  a  vote  thanking  yourselves, 
and  so  if  you  would  allow  me,  I  would  like  to  relieve  you  of  the 
nominal  embarrassment  by  asking  the  delegates  from  the  other  lauds 
when  the  motion  is  put  to  vote  upon  that  question,  and  relieve  their 
brethren  in  England  from  thanking  themselves.  I  would  also  like  to 
suggest  it  seems  to  me  proper  that  one  slight  mistake  made  by  my 
brother  from  the  Dominion  should  be  eliminated.  I  have  been  assured 
so  many  times  that  we  are  not  foreigners.  "We  are  brethren,  I  have 
been  assured,  over  and  over  again,  brethren  from  other  lands,  and 
that  some  of  us  are  children,  or  grandchildren  of  this,  our  parent 
country,  the  country  that  we  love,  and  the  country  that  we  find  loves 
us,  and  is  glad  to  welcome  us  back.  And  so  from  the  time  we  set 
foot  upon  the  shore  of  this  great  Kingdom,  up  to  tlie  present  moment, 
we  have  received  courtesies,  almost  innumerable  courtesies,  that  it  is 
'  impossible  for  us  to  repeat.  And  tlie  resolution  which  I  am  seconding, 
although  it  seems  to  cover  so  much  ground,  does  not  and  cannot  cover 
all  that  we  would  be  glad  to  express.  But  we  are  grateful,  I  am  sure, 
and  we  are  glad  if  you  will  give  us  the  opportunity  to  express  our 
gratitude,  gratitude  to  everyone  of  those  mentioned,  gratitude  to  the 
oflScers  of  the  Convention.  We  are  thankful  and  glad  that  you 
j'ourself,  sir,  recognise  the  obligation  which  position  imposes,  and 
we  are  glad  to  express  our  loyalty  to  Her  most  gracious  Majesty  the 
Queen  of  this  land,  whom  we  so  greatly  revere.  With  your  permission 
then,  I  will  ask  all  the  delegates  from  other  lands  if  they  will  rise  to 
exjiress  their  approval  of  the  adoption  of  these  resolutions. 
The  resolution  having  been  carried  with  acclamation — 
The  Chairman  said :  I  have  no  hesitation  in  calling  upon  Mr. 
Towers  to  speak  to  you. 

Omens  of  Peace. 

Mr.  Towers  :  Christian  Friends, — I  thank  our  brethren  from  other 
lands  for  the  very  full  and  courteous  manner  in  which  they  have 
expressed  their  thanks  to  the  friends  in  England  who  so  heartily  and 
gladly  received  them  among  them.  We  wish  the  thing  could  be 
repeated.  Some  of  us  are  a  little  tired  perhaps  this  week,  but  we 
could  go  through  it  all  again  because  of  the  approval  we  have  received 
from  our  dear  friends  from  all  parts  of  the  world  with  whom  we 
have  been  in  close  communion.  I  place  before  you  a  resolution  which 
has  been  entrusted  to  me  to  move.  It  is  as  follows  :  "  Kesolved  that 
this  Convention  hails  with  satisfaction  the  gathering  omens  of 
renewed  peace  between  the  American  and  Spanish  nations,  and  prays 
that  the  outcome  of  the  war  may  be  not  only  the  enfranchisement  of 
peoples  but  the  enlargement  of  the  life-giving  work  of  Christ  and  the 
spread  of  religious  thought  and  liberty."  I  will  not  enlarge  upon  the 
terms  of  the  resolution,  but  I  move  it  with  great  pleasure,  and  I  am 
sure  that  the  delegates  in  this  Christian  assembly  will  heartily  support 
the  resolution. 


288  WorlcVs  Third 

The  Chairman  :  I  call  ui)on  Mr.  Albert  )Spicer  to  support  the 
resolution. 

I\Ir.  Albeut  SncER,  M.P. :  My  Lord  Marquis  and  Ciiristian  friends, — 
My  friend  behind  me  was  so  busy  in  imploring  mc  to  second  this 
resolution,  that  I  have  not  had  time  yet  to  listen  to  it.  (Having  read 
it,)  .Sir,  I  am  sure  I  can  second  it  with  the  most  hearty  satisfaction  and 
support.  We  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  this  disastrous  war 
lias  opened  many  new  problems  which  it  will  be  for  those  whom  we 
shall  influence  to  settle  with  God's  help  in  days  to  come.  But  in 
looking  forward  to  these  new  problems  the  Christian  men  and  women 
of  this  country  may  feel  that  there  are  new  securities  for  the  peace  of 
the  world,  and  we  feel  England  and  America  coming  closer  together. 
I  have  great  pleasure  in  seconding  the  resolution. 

The  Chairman  :  I  am  sure  there  is  not  one  of  us  who  has  not  prayed 
that  peace,  an  honourable  peace,  may  come  to  conclude  the  war  that 
has  been  going  on,  and  we  were^  thankful  this  morning  to  see  that 
peace  is,  we  believe,  neariug  us,  and  that  very  soon,  probably  before 
many  days,  there  will  be  one  great  shout  of  praise  and  thanksgiving 
throughout  the  great  world  that  the  war  has  come  to  an  end. 
The  resolution  was  carried  with  loud  cheers. 

The  Chairman  :  I  have  now  much  pleasure  in  calling  upon  Count 
Bernstorff. 

Count  Bernstorff  :  My  Lords,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  dear  Chris- 
tian Friends,  and  Fellow-Workers, — Will  you  just  allow  me  for  once  to 
begin  my  address  with  a  few  words  of  i^ersonal  recollection  ?    I  should 
not  do  so  if  it  did  not  happen  to  be  to-day  the  lotli  July,  not  a  great 
day  of  political  events,  but  a  day  very  important  in  my  own  life.     It  is 
to-day,  forty-four  years  ago,  tliat  my  father  arrived  with  his  family  in 
London  as  Prussian  Minister  to  this  Court.     The  consequence  was 
that  forty-four  years  ago  a  house  in  London,  9,  Carlton  House  Terrace, 
became  the  home  of  my  happy  childhood,  and  I  can  never  remember 
the  15th  of  July  without  deep  gratitude.     And  you  will  pardon  me  for 
remembering  the  years   gone    by,  and   for  paying  a  tribute   to  the 
memory  of  those  dear  Christian  friends,  many  of  whom  are  no  more  in 
this  world,  who  have  given  the  first  impulse  to  my  own  personal  religion. 
From  what  I  have  said  at  the  beginning  you  will  understand  how 
deeply  I  appreciate  the  kind  words  spoken  from  the  chair.     You  well 
imderstand  that  with  these  feelings  that  I  have  for  your  country  it  is 
quite  natural  that  I  should  find  in  estrangement  between  Great  Britain 
and  Germany  something  entirely  unnatural — a  thing,  according  to  my 
idea,  which  can  never  be  permanent — but  which  should  not  even  be  for 
a  time.     We  have  too  many  things  which  bind  us  together,  and  espe- 
cially, not  only  the  race,  but  also  our  common  Protestautism.     I  am 
well  aware  that  some  of  my  colleagues  in  the  German  Parliament  will 
not  quite  agree  with  me  when  I  call  Germany  a  Protestant  country, 
and  perhaps  there  may  be  some  Englishmen  who  cannot  quite  agree 
with  me  if  I  use  the  same  word  as  applied  to  Eiiirland.     But  never- 
theless it  is  so. 


Sunday  School  Convention.  289 

My  second  recollection — tliat  was  forty-four  years  ago ;  now  let  me 
look  back  thirty-four  years.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  for  me  to  remember 
this  evening  tliat  the  son  of  a  man  who  has  been  a  great  help  to  me 
in  Germany  is  present.  It  was  Mr.  Albert  Woodruff,  from  Brooklyn, 
who  came  to  Berlin  thirty-four  years  ago.  He  did  not  speak  one 
word  of  German,  but  he  was  a  man  of  stern  jrarpose,  and  he  was 
convinced  of  the  blessings  of  Sunday  schools,  and  he  remained  at 
Berlin,  and  did  not  leave  us  until  he  saw  some  Sunday  schools  started. 
It  is  true  that  without  his  help  we  might  have  received  the  Sunday 
schools  at  a  later  period,  because  of  the  interchange  of  ideas  between 
the  different  countries,  and  they  might  have  come  by  another  agent. 
But  every  year  later  would  have  been  a  year  lost.  And  so  we  are 
now  doubly  grateful  when  wo  remember  the  time  when  Mr.  Woodruff 
came.  I  am  very  happy  to  think  I  was  also  led  to  take  a  part  in  this 
work  from  the  very  beginning  until  even  now,  and  I  have  been  a 
Sunday  school  teacher  for  thirty-four  years.  I  have  a  Sunday  school, 
I  should  not  like  to  be  without  it.  It  is  a  precious  time  when  the 
Sunday  comes  and  I  can  meet  the  children  of  my  class.  But  it  is  also 
a  precious  time  when  on  the  Saturday  morning  I  meet  the  other 
teachers,  and  we  gather  together  round  the  table  with  our  open  Bibles 
and  we  study  the  subject  which  is  to  be  spoken  about  to  the  children 
on  the  Sunday.  That  is  real  fellowsliip  of  Christian  work,  the  fellow- 
ship round  the  Bible,  and  those  moments  belong  to  the  happiest  which 
I  can  fancy.  Lhope,  God  willing,  I  shall  remain  a  Sunday  school 
teacher  to  the  end  of  my  life. 

I  consider  the  usefulness  of  the  Sunday  school  in  a  threefold 
manner.  In  the  first  instance,  the  Sunday  school  is  a  blessing  to  the 
children.  We  are  fully  convinced  it  is  not  useless  if  we  bring  the 
children  at  an  early  age  under  the  influence  of  the  Bible.  Of  course, 
they  may  forget  it  again ;  but,  on  the  other  side,  with  many  the 
influence  remains.  When  Luther  began  the  Eeformation  work  in 
Germany,  he  published  a  book  which  is  still  at  the  present  moment  in 
use  in  Germany — a  small  catechism.  He  knew  how  very  important 
it  was  to  train  the  children  for  that  work  of  reformation.  But  even 
now  we  want  something  else  than  the  little  book,  Luther's  catechism  ; 
it  is  tlie  Bible. 

But  the  Sunday  school  has  another  advantage.  It  not  only  brings 
the  Book  to  the  children ;  it  brings  them  into  contact  with  loving 
persons  believing  in  Christ.  The  children  in  the  Sunday  school 
see  there  are  people  who  dedicate  their  time  to  this  work  without 
being  paid  for  it.  They  see  that  religion  is  a  sufficiently  strong 
power  in  these  teachers  to  induce  them  to  undertake  this  work,  and 
therefore  the  Sunday  school  is  of  great  value  to  the  children.  But  at 
the  same  time  it  is  of  great  value  for  those  who  teach  in  the  Sunday 
school.  It  is  a  great  thing  if  a  man  is  obliged  once  a  week — he  ought 
to  do  more,  but  at  least  once  a  week — thoroughly  to  study  a  passage 
in  the  Scriptures. 

The  Sunday  school  is  not  in  conflict  with  any  other  Christian  agency. 


290  World's  Third 

One  is  always  inclined  to  think  one's  own  work  the  most  important, 
and  so  therefore  there  are  sometimes  jealousies  and  rivalries  between 
difterent  classes  of  Cliristian  work.  But  I  cannot  see  how  possibly 
the  Sunday  school  can  ever  be  in  conflict  with  other  Christian  work. 
We  take  our  teachers  from  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  and 
from  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations.  The  Sunday  school  is 
a  Bible  society.  The  Bible  goes  to  the  children,  and  through  tho 
children  into  the  house.  The  Sunday  school  is  a  tract  society,  because 
through  the  children  also  religious  pamphlets  go  into  the  house ;  and, 
in  fact,  tlie  Sunday  school  is  the  very  germ  of  the  \''oung  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. I  have  sometimes  had  the  pleasure  to  see  the  boys  of  my  class 
going  out  of  tlie  Sunday  school  into  the  Young  IMen's  Christian 
Association.     So  it  ought  to  be. 

Tho  third  benefit  of  the  Sunday  school  is  for  the  Church  at  large. 
The  doctrine  of  the  general  priesthood  of  believers,  that  Protestant 
doctrine  we  have  had  in  principle ;  it  was,  as  we  say  in  Germany,  on 
pajier.  One  of  our  German  poets  said  that  what  one  possesses  is 
written  in  black  and  white.  Sometimes  one  thinks  that  if  a  resolution 
is  passed  and  written  down,  tlie  principle  agreed  upon  is  all  right. 
But  that  is  not  the  case,  tliat  does  not  suffice.  The  general  priesthood 
of  believers  was  recognised  in  principle  for  a  long  time  in  the  German 
lieformation.  But  there  was  no  practical  use  made  of  it.  Now  it  is 
quite  difterent.  And  I  can  surely  see  if  we  are  now  in  Germany  in  a 
time  of  religious  revival,  and  we  see  Christian  work  going  on  that  the 
Sunday  school  has  a  great  part  in  it.  The  Sunday  school  is  a  power 
in  the  life  of  our  national  churches.  The  only  question  is,  how  can  it 
be  made  more  efficient  ?  We  are  happy  to  have  a  number  of  teachers 
ready  to  sacrifice  their  time  for  the  work,  but  very  often  the  teachers 
are  not  as  efficient  as  they  ought  to  be,  and  therefore  the  question  is, 
how  can  we  get  efficient  teachers?  Therefore  this  Convention  is  a 
great  blessing.  We  are  deeply  grateful  to  meet  so  many  men  from 
different  countries  who  are  entliusiasts  in  the  work.  And  when  I  go 
back  to  my  own  country  and  can  tell  what  we  have  been  speaking 
about  here  in  this  Sunday  School  Convention,  I  am  sure  it  will  be  a 
benefit  not  only  to  me  but  to  those  to  whom  I  go.  Let  me  just 
mention  that  we  have  German  Sunday  School  Conventions  every  three 
years.  We  should  be  particularly  happy  if  the  Sunday  School  Union 
would  not  only  send  us  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  to  take  place 
next  April  at  Breslau,  but  if  many  of  you  will  make  it  possible  to  join 
us  on  that  occasion. 

The  Chairman  :  I  call  upon  Professor  Hamill,  from  America,  to 
address  us. 

Professor  Hamill  :  My  Lord,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, — The  speaking 
of  a  farewell  word  should  always  cause  us  to  lingor  for  a  moment.  I 
desire  to  join  my  voice  very  humbly  in  the  very  glad  refrain  of 
gratitude  that  has  gone  up  in  the  way  of  resolutions  and  platform 
addresses  to-night  and  elsewliere  to  the  good  people  of  the  city  of 


Sunday  School  Convention.  291 

Loudon  -with  its  chief  dignitaries,  especially  to  the  officers  of  the 
Sunday  School  Union  for  their  great  kindness  to  us  who  come  across 
the  sea.  My  visit  will  be  a  hurried  one.  Only  a  few  days  more  until 
my  ship  will  be  sailing  back  over  the  pathway  and  to  the  land  whence 
I  came.  But  it  has  been  a  great  joy  to  me  to  have  made  this  my  tirst 
visit  to  the  old  City  of  London.  From  childhood  I  have  read  of  it. 
My  old  Christ  College,  Oxford,  tutor  talked  to  me  much  about  it.  My 
boyhood  was  saturated  with  the  stories  of  its  greatness.  I  bave  gone 
iu  dreams  into  its  great  historic  buildings,  and  I  rejoice  that  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  as  an  international  Sunday  school  worker  I  am  permitted 
to  stand  in  this  presence  and  express  my  great  gratitude  for  this 
momentous  event  in  tlie  life  of  a  humble  Western  Sunday  school 
worker. 

I  like  many  things  in  our  old  motherland.  I  like  your  pure 
mellifluous  speaking.  I  remember  my  old  tutor,  very  loyal  to  Christ's 
College,  used  to  say  to  me  iu  my  boyhood, "  There  is  no  dictionary 
like  England."  It  has  been  a  delight  to  me  to  hear  at  the  very 
foundation  source  the  charming  speech  that  came  to  us  out  of 

"  Dan  Chaucer's  well  of  English  undefiled." 

That  Shakespeare  made  great  and  that  Addison  and  Macaulay  have 
made  splendid.  This  morning,  in  riding  to  Westminster  Abbey,  I  was 
perplexed  for  a  moment  as  to  the  use  of  the  pure  Queen's  English  on 
the  part  of  the  gentleman  who  was  taking  care  of  my  fare  on  the  top 
of  the  bus.  I  said  to  the  man,  "  How  near  to  the  Abbey  can  you  land 
me?"  And  this  was  his  answer,  "  On  the  outside,  sir,"  Now,  Mr. 
Chairman,  though  for  a  moment  it  seemed  not  to  be  the  fine  English 
of  my  ancient  tutor,  I  considered  it,  and  I  discovered,  after  due  reflection, 
what  is  characteristic  of  all  who  have  English  blood,  that  the  answer  was 
both  gracious  and  accurate.  For  sometimes  cabmen  in  Chicago  would 
have  landed  me  within  the  burying-place.  I  like,  too,  the  frank  open 
spirit,  the  kindly  courtesy,  the  soft  answer  which  turneth  away  the 
wrath  of  an  impetuous  and  sometimes  ignorant  American.  I  would  be 
very  glad  to  tell  you  one  little  incident  illustrative  of  this.  The  first 
day  I  landed  in  London  I  took  out  my  memorandum  book  and  said  to 
my  friend,  Mr.  McCrillis,  "  I  am  going  to  take  account  in  London  as 
Thackeray  did  in  the  southern  part  of  my  own  United  States ;  I  am 
going  to  see  just  how  far  courtesy  is  a  prevailing  characteristic  of  our 
British  cousin  " — and  so  I  determined  to  pencil  down,  line  by  line,  any 
words  of  discourtesy  in  response  to  legitimate  questions  and  every 
word  lacking  in  courtesy.  I  will  give  you  my  score  to-night  after 
a  whole  week  in  the  City  of  London.  I  have  one  solitary  mark 
upon  the  side  of  discourtesy  as  against  hundreds  upon  the  side  of 
courtesy. 

I  like  the  strength  of  character,  the  repose,  the  courage  in  your 
good  English  people.  I  saw  it  coming  across  the  sea.  I  looked  down 
into  the  hold  witli  a  great  smoke  rolling  up  on  our  faces  and  I  saw 
135  men  as  quiet  as  you  are  to-night,  in  a  fire  in  a  steamer  at  sea. 

u  2 


292  WorhVs  Third 

It  would  seem  to  Americans  a  piod  example,  and  not  a  woman 
fainted,  not  a  man  quailed  in  the  hour  of  peril.  I  like  the  conserva- 
tism that  I  sec.  There  are  two  kinds  of  conservatism — there  is  tho 
conservatism  of  the  lion,  there  is  the  conservatism  of  the  eagle,  who 
poises  deliberately  bcf(jre  he  wings  his  flight  into  his  native  ether. 
I  liave  seen  his  wings  quiver  and  his  eyes  look  upward  before  his 
mighty  flight  began.  There  is  the  conservatism  of  the  lion,  fitting 
emblems,  are  they  not,  \k>  be  joined  to-night  ?  I  like  the  conservatism 
of  the  eagle  and  the  lion.  I  think  it  is  Chase,  one  of  our  American 
artists,  who  has  a  beautiful  conceit,  I  wanted  it  for  my  own  house. 
It  is  a  lion  couchant,  king  of  beasts,  with  his  great  head  and  lii.-j 
flowing  mane.  And  then  there  twitters  impertinently  upon  a  bough, 
only  a  few  inches  away  from  his  majesty's  nostrils,  a  little  sparrow. 
And  I  can  see  the  twinkle  and  humour  in  the  lion's  eye  as  he  looks 
at  this  sparrow.  You  may  be  sure  if  in  my  short  stay  I  venture  by 
reason  of  kindred  blood  to  pat  the  lion's  head  and  put  my  caress  on 
his  mane,  I  will  not  twist  his  tail. 

Then  I  greatly  admire  the  deep  current  of  religiousness  that  runs 
throughout  this  great  empire,  whose  fountain  source  is  here  in  this 
greatest  of  all  cities  I  think  you  would  have  to  wait  a  good  while 
in  Chicago  before  the  Lord  Mayor  of  that  city  put  his  sanction  upon 
the  study  of  tho  Word  of  God  in  public  schools.  I  like  the  deep 
religious  feeling  displayed.  I  like  the  reverence  for  the  Sabbath.  I 
like  the  church-going  spirit,  and  most  of  all,  my  Lord,  I  thank  God 
that  those  whom  Providence  hath  called  to  the  high  places  of  earth 
are  in  such  close  and  intimate  league  with  the  work  of  Christ. 

Now,  brethren,  I  have  but  a  word  more.  We  have  a  great  deal  to 
say  about  the  union  of  the  English  and  American  hearts  and  the 
kinship  of  blood.  As  an  American,  looking  out  across  the  seas, 
standing  in  this  great  place  among  the  nations,  I  look  out  upon  the 
tablet  that  commemorates  John  Wesley,  my  spiritual  father,  and  I 
read  anew  his,  as  it  was  his,  boast  that,  "  The  world  shall  be  my 
parish."  My  brother  from  Germany  in  Christ  is  just  as  closely  my 
brother  as  any  sturdy  Britisher  who  sits  upon  this  platform.  There 
came  to  me  and  took  me  by  the  hand  last  night  an  It;ilian  pastor 
labouring  for  the  Sunday  school  in  this  great  city  of  London.  I  fear 
sometimes  that  in  our  great  outlook  upon  the  nation  of  English- 
speaking  people,  we  need  to  be  reminded  by  your  own  sweet-voiced 
poet  that — 

"  If,  drunk  with  sight  of  power,  wc  loose 

Wild  tongues  that  have  not  Thee  in  awe — 

Such  boastings  as  the  Gentiles  use. 
Or  lesser  breeds  without  tlie  Law — 

Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 

Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget !  " 

My  theme  is  a  universal  domination  under  the  Banner  of  the  Cross. 
For  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations  that  do  dwell  on  the 


Sunday  School  Convention.  293 

face  of  the  earth.  My  cradle  was  rocked  by  the  liand  of  a  slave  in 
the  south,  and  yet  it  is  my  chiefest  joy  that  I  have  lived  to  see  the 
shackle  stricken  from  the  hand  of  the  black.  And  to-morrow,  to- 
morrow, if  the  sun  of  peace  should  again  be  seen  as  between  my  own 
loved  country  and  Spain,  I  would  gladly  go  as  an  evangelist  of  the 
Sunday  school,  and  carry  its  gosi^el  to  my  brethren  in  Spain. 

God  bless  you  of  Japan,  of  far  away  India,  of  Sweden,  of  Germany, 
of  Italy,  of  the  United  States,  wherever  Christ's  blood  hath  been 
poured  out  for  the  redemi3tion  of  our  race.  But  especially,  Mr. 
Chairman,  you  will  let  me  say  my  last  word,  as  I  began  in  ray 
beginning,  referred  to  the  dear  old  country  which  gave  me  father  and 
mother.  Let  me  say,  especially  to-night,  as  representing  the  Uuited 
States,  God  bless  the  great  and  patient,  and  peaceful  spirited  miin. 
President  William  McKinley,  God  save  the  Queeu. 

The  choir  sang,  "  The  heavens  are  telling." 

The  Chairman  :  I  will  now  ask  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Lament  from  Ireland 
to  address  you. 

The  Rev.  J.  D.  Lasiont  (Ireland) :  My  Lord  and  Christian  friends,— 
I  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  arrangement,  by  which  an  Irishman 
has  been  given  the  last  word.  I  suppose  those  who  organized  this 
meeting  did  not  wish  to  leave  Ireland  out,  inasmuch  as  we  have  been 
emphasing  all  along  the  importance  of  the  Home  Department. 

I  need  not  say,  as  an  Irishman,  that  I  heartily  join  in  all  that  has 
been  said  in  recognition  of  the  kindness  of  our  London  friends.  It  is 
no  new  thing  to  me  to  have  experienced  London  hospitality,  and 
anyone  who  has  had  anything  to  do  with  the  Sunday  School  Union 
knows  that  what  we  have  experienced  during  the  past  few  days,  is 
only  characteristic  of  them  all  the  year  round.  I  was  told  yesterday, 
being  an  Irishman,  that  I  would  be  expected  to  make  an  impromptu 
speech  to-night.  An  Irishman  always  likes  about  twenty-four  hours' 
notice  of  an  impromptu  address,  and  I  was  somewhat  embarrassed  by 
the  notice.     I  think  I  should  have  got  on  better  without  it. 

However,  I  shall  have  very  happy  recollections  of  this  great  World's 
Sunday  School  Convention.  I  must  not  forget  to  say  that  I  am  here 
to-night  as  a  delegate  from  the  National  Council  of  Christian 
Endeavour.  There  is  no  antagonism  between  the  Christian  Endeavour 
Society  and  the  Sunday  school.  The  Christian  Endeavour  movement 
is,  we  think,  the  complement  of  the  Sunday  school,  and  we  think  that 
we  are  in  a  position  to  furnish  the  school  with  better  equipped 
teachers  than  they  have  had  perhaps  in  the  past.  At  any  rate, 
anything  that  we  can  do  along  these  lines  we  shall  do,  and  we  shall  be 
very  happy  to  do  it. 

I  su^jpose  that  at  this  late  hour  you  will  not  want  any  more  statistics. 
The  statistics  about  Ireland  were  given  by  an  Englishman,  Mr.  Belsey, 
the  other  evening.  You  will  take  them  as  given,  I  am  happy  to  say, 
not  only  from  the  Church  of  which  I  am  a  member,  but  for  all  the 
Evangelical  churches  of  Ireland.  We  are  having  great  prosperity  in 
our  Sunday-school  work.    We  have  a  most  difficult  work  to  do ;  but  I 


294  World's  Third 

thiuk  a  more  earnest  and  faithful  band  of  Sunday  school  teachers 
could  not  be  found  anywhere. 

I  think  that  one  of  the  results  of  this  great  Convention  will  be  that 
the  Church  will  ap[)rcciate  more  than  she  has  done  the  importance  of 
Sunday  school  teaching.  I  hardly  know  any  class  of  Christian 
workers  who  are  more  undervalued  than  Sunday  school  teachers. 
The  Church  has  never  properly  appreciated  the  efforts  of  this  class  of 
agents.  They  are  the  pioneers  of  the  Church.  The  Sunday-school 
teachers  are  the  right-arm  of  the  Church.  We  who  preach  the  Gospel 
are  constantly  appealing  to  the  knowledge  that  our  congregations 
possess  of  certain  Scriptures,  and  we  have  become  familiar  with  these 
Scriptures,  but  in  our  Sunday  schools  everything  has  to  be  learned. 
Another  thing  I  have  learned  is  that  Sunday  school  teachers  are  not 
Theologians.  I  am  glad  to  know  that.  I  shall  be  more  hopeful  about 
the  orthodoxy  of  our  Protestantism.  For  you  know  that  all  the  trouble 
comes  in  through  the  laity,  as  I  have  heard  them  say.  And  I  hope 
we  shall  go  away  from  this  Convention,  having  learned  that  teachers 
are  not  preachers.  I  wish  that  some  of  the  preachers  were  better 
teachers,  and  I  wish  that  some  of  the  teachers  were  less  preachers. 
I  think  that  about  an  ounce  of  preacher  to  a  pound  of  teacher  is  a  very 
good  mixture. 

Now,  we  have  learned  also,  T-  think,  in  this  great  Convention  that 
we  must,  as  sowers  of  the  seed,  sow  selected  seed.  The  man  who 
thinks  in*  Sunday  school  work  that  anything  will  do  will  never  do 
anything — never.  We  must  give  our  very  best  to  this  work.  And  I 
hope — I  make  sure,  indeed — that,  as  a  result  of  the  magnificent  papers 
and  speeches  we  have  listened  to,  that  those  of  us  who  teach  will  do 
more  than  ever  we  have  done  to  give  the  children  the  very  best  that 
we  can  get. 

Then  I  think  that,  as  the  result  of  the  Convention,  our  work  will  be 
more  skilfully  done.  There  are  some  men  who  have  not  been,  as  our 
American  friends  say,  raised  on  a  farm.  They  imagine  that  any  man 
can  sow.  You  Londoners  try  it.  Any  man  cannot  cast  seed  into  the 
earth  properly.  The  hand  must  keep  stop  with  the  font.  Sowing 
needs  great  care,  and  you  will  want  great  skill  in  your  work  of 
instmcting  the  young. 

The  value  of  adaptation  has  been  emphasised  during  the  Conference. 
The  late  Mr.  Spurgeon  said  on  one  occasion  that  there  were  certain 
preachers  who  acted  as  if  the  Lord  had  not  said,  "  Feed  My  lambs," 
but  "  Feed  My  giraffes,' '  because  they  put  the  food  so  high  up  that 
the  lambs  could  not  get  near  it.  Now  I  wish  to  say  to  you  Sunday- 
school  teachers  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  don't  be  talking  to  these 
poor  little  children  of  six  or  seven  years  of  age  about  the  genesis  of 
Scripture,  and  about  their  environment,  and  all  those  other  phrases 
that  are  so  common  to-day.  They  are  very  good  words  in  their  place, 
but  keep  them  out  of  your  class  for  the  present.  In  the  twenty-first 
century,  I  have  no  doubt,  they  wnll  be  very  fitting,  but  wait.  The 
work  is  to  bo  skilfully  done,  and  done  very  persistently  and  patiently, 


Sunday  School  Convention.  295 

our  fiieuds  have  been  telling  us.  We  are  not  to  be  too  much  influ- 
enced by  the  likelihood  or  unlikelihood  of  success.  It  is  ours  to  sow, 
and  a  vulgar  reckoning  of  the  probabilities  of  success  is  beneath  the 
true  worker  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Sow  in  the  morn  thy  seed, 
At  eve  hold  uot  thy  hand." 

Thou  knowest  not  whether  it  shall  prosper  this  or  that,  or  both  alike 
be  good.  It  is  yours  to  sow.  We  have  a  great  many  teachers  in 
Ireland  who  do  not  teach  all  the  year  round.  Evergreens,  I  think 
our  brother  from  America  said  lo-day  they  called  the  schools  that 
keep  open  all  the  year  round.  Well,  if  there  is  any  place  where  we 
ought  to  raise  evergreen  teachers  it  ought  to  be  in  Ireland.  But 
somehow  or  other  we  have  not  managed  to  do  it  always.  There  are 
some  who  cannot  teach  in  the  summer  time,  and  some  who  come  very 
irregularly. 

Now  you  have  come  to  this  Convention  ;  go  away  with  the  purpose 
that  you  will  put  your  whole  soul  into  this,  the  grandest  work  which 
any  man  or  woman  could  do. 

"Arise,  fellow  teacher,  and  resolve  to  go, 
Wide  scatter  the  precious  grain. 
Be  sure  the  seed  of  word  will  grow, 
Toil  on  in  faith  and  you  shall  reap. 
You  cannot  toil  in  vain." 

The  choir  having  sung  the  "  Hallelujah  Chorus,"  the  hymn,  "  Blest 
be  the  tie  that  binds,"  was  sung. 

The  Benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Woodruff,  and 
the  sessions  of  the  Convention  were  brought  to  a  close,  the  clioir 
singing  "  Victoria,  Our  Queen,"  as  the  audience  dispersed. 


SATURDAY. 

Excursions. 

The  Convention  proper  having  terminated  on  Friday,  many  of  the 
delegates  still  in  London  availed  themselves  of  the  special  arrange- 
ments made  for  their  relaxation  on  Saturday.  These  consisted  of 
excursions  to  places  of  interest  in  town  and  out,  and  a  garden-party. 
The  excursions  were  on  foot,  driving,  and  by  train.  Mr.  James  S. 
Crowther  had  charge  of  the  walking-excursion,  which  began  as  early 
as  eight  in  the  morning,  visits  being  paid  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  and 
the  Tower,  as  well  as  the  principal  "  lions  "  between  those  two  historic 
landmarks.  The  driving-excursions,  guided  by  Messrs.  E.  Norris  and 
W.  J.  Purver,  compassed  Smithfield,  the  scene  of  Protestant  martyr- 
dom, and  other  places  of  note,  of  course  not  omitting  the  Thames 
Embankment  and  its  gardens,  where  stands  the  statue  of   Robert 


290  World's  Third  Suitdai/  School  Conveniion. 

Raikes,  of  immortal  memory,  then  traversing  the  "West  as  far  as  tlie 
Imperial  Institute — one  of  the  latest  accessions  to  London  i>ublic 
arcliitecture  of  any  pretension.  Westminster  Abbey  was  next  visited, 
and  Gladstone's  last  resting-place ;  then  tlic  Houses  of  Parliament, 
Mr.  Woodall  and  Mr.  Albert  Spicer,  both  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  escorting  tlie  visitors  over  the  Upper  and  Lower  Chambers 
of  the  Legislature. 

The  Gakden-Party. 

Specially  invited  guests,  to  the  number  of  nearly  six  hundred,  were 
glad  to  quit  the  hot  hard  streets  of  London  and  to  seek  the  cool 
shelter  of  the  trees,  and  tread  the  velvet  lawn  in  the  lovely  grounds 
thrown  open  to  them  by  the  hospitality  of  jMr.  Evan  Spicer,  J. P.,  and 
Mrs.  Spicer,  of  Belair,  Dulwich.  Mr.  Evan  Spicer's  beautiful  home  is 
one  of  tiie  most  hospitable  places  in  London,  and  the  numerous  garden- 
parties  which  are  held  there  every  summer  are  mostly  gatherings  of 
Christian  workers  who  have  been  brought  together  by  the  large- 
hearted  sympathy  and  hospitality  of  Mr.  Spicer  and  his  wife.  On 
Saturday  last  that  hospitality  was  characteristically  extended  to  the 
foreign  delegates  of  the  World's  Convention,  and  from  three  o'clock  to 
six  o'clock  on  Saturday  afternoon  the  beautiful  grounds  of  Belair 
presented  an  animated  scene.  There  is  no  place  where  oue  can 
fraternise  so  easily  as  at  a  garden-party,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  were  more  introductions  and  happy  intercourse  among  the 
delegates  on  Saturday  afternoon  than  at  any  other  meeting  during 
Convention  week.  Abundant  refreshments  in  the  shape  of  ices,  tea 
and  coffee,  strawberries  and  cream,  were  dispensed  by  a  staff  of 
servants,  and  mu-^ic  from  tlie  Blue  Hungarian  Band  gave  a  touch  of 
gaiety  to  an  entertainment  that  was  an  uninterrupted  pleasure.  The 
plaintive  melodies,  sung  by  a  contingent  of  the  famous  Jubilee  Singers, 
formed  a  novel  feature  of  the  entertainment.  Mr.  Evan  Spicer  and 
his  charming  wife  made  the  most  considerate  and  aflfable  of  liosts,  and 
spared  themselves  no  exertion  and  trouble  to  make  their  guests  feel 
thorougbly  at  home.  No  more  satisfactory  conclusion  could  have  been 
given  to  an  altogether  notable  week. 


APPENDIX. 


LIST  OF   DELEGATES 

TO  THE 

WORLD'S   THIRD   SUNDAY  SCHOOL 
CONVENTION. 


ion. 
.  U. 


GEEAT  BKITAIN  AND  lEELAND. 

Acklaud,  Mr.  T.  G S.  S.  U.  Council 

Adams,  Mr.  E Sheffield  S.  S.  U, 

Adams,  Mr.  Geo.  F Chester       „ 

Adams,  Mrs »  >» 

Adams,  Mr.  G.  R S.  S.  U.  Council 

Adcock,  Mr Thame  S.  S.  U 

Adcock,  Mrs ,, 

Adeney,  Rev.  Professor Congregational  Ui 

Alcock,  Mr.  J.  E Wes.  Meth.  S.  S 

Alderton,  Miss Norwich 

Aldous,  Mr.  C.  D Norwood  and  Penge  Aux. 

Allison,  Mr.  A.  M Twickenham 

Angus,  Mr.  A Battersea  Aux. 

Anstey,  Rev.  W.  B Witham 

Anstiss,  Mr.  T Thame 

Archer,  Rev.  W Maidstone 

Arraitage,  Miss  J Huddersfield 

Ashmead,  Mr.  F.  D S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Bristol 

Ashmead,  Mrs.  F.  D Bristol 

Ashworth,  Mr.  E Barnsley 

Atterton,  Mr Haverhill 

Attrill,  Mr.  John West  London  Aux. 

Austen-Barratt,  Mr.  J S.  S.  U.  Council 

Austin,  Rev.  J.  F North  Sussex  S.  S.  U 

,*,  Aux.  S.  S.  U.  indicates  Auxiliwy  of  the  Sunday  School  Union,  London. 


298  Appendix. 

Avoiy,  Mr.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Bailey,  Mr.  C,  F.I.S Manchester  S.  S.  U. 

Bailey,  Mr.  J Wes.  Meth.       „ 

Bailey,  Mr.  S.  C S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Baines,  Mr.  W.  W.,  J.P Baptist  Union. 

Bales,  Mr North-West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Ball,  Mr.  H Kettering       „ 

Bulmer,  Mr.  J.  E y.  S.  U.  Council  and  Manchester       „ 

Bancroft,  Miss „  „ 

Barham,  Mr.  A S.  S.  U.  Council,  Barnsley  S.  S.  U.  and  Yorkshire 

Assocn.  of  S.  S.  U.'s. 

Barnaby,  Sir  N South-East  Loudon  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Barnard,  Mr.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Barnes,  Mr.  A.  T South  Essex  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Barrat,  Mr.  J East  London  Aux.       „ 

Barrett,  Eev.  E.  E Y.  P.  S.  C.  E.  and  Liverpool       „ 

Barrow,  Rev.  D Portsmouth       „ 

Bartlett,  Mr.  D.  J Isle  of  Wight       „ 

Bartlett,  Mr.  Wm.,  junr Cotswold       ,, 

Bates,  Mr.  A S.  S.  U.  Council  and  East  London  Aux.       „ 

Bates,  Mr.  F Northampton       „ 

Bates,  Mrs.  F „ 

Batho,  Mr.  F West  London  Aux.       „ 

Baxter,  Mr.  A.  E Harrogate       „ 

Baxter,  Rev.  B Sudbury       „ 

Baynes,  Mr.  A.  H Baptist  Miss.  Society. 

Beach,  Mr.  E.  T South- West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Beale,  Mr.  F.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Beaveu,  Mr.  W Cradley  Heath  S.  S.  U. 

Beck,  Mr.  O South-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Bcdwell,  Miss  L Colchester       „ 

Belcher,  Mr.  John Swindon       „ 

Bellatti,  Mr Norwood  and  Penge  Au^.       „ 

Belsey,  Mr.  F.  F.,  J.P Chairman,  S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Belson,  Mr.  W.  F Northampton  S.  S.  U. 

Benham,  Mr.  T S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Benham,  Mrs North-London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Bennett,  Miss  E.  J Bristol       „ 

Bennett,  Rev.  G Prim.  Meth.       „ 

Benson,  Mr.  J Sheffield       „ 

Bernstorfif,  Count S.  S.  U.  (Vice-President) 

Berrill,  Mr.  A.  E Northampton       „ 

Beynon,  Mr.  Geo Isle  of  Sheppey  S.  S.  IJ. 

Binns,  Mr.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Bird,  Rev.  W.  R Prim.  Meth.  S.  S.  U. 

Blackburn,  Miss  D.  Agnes Heckmondwike       „ 

Blackwell,  Miss  E.  W Northampton       „ 

Blandford,  Rev.  T Margate       „ 


List  of  Delegates.  299 

Blant,  Mr.  A Burton-on-Tient  S.  S.  U, 

Blant,  Mrs.  Ellen „  „ 

Bolton,  Miss  M.  A '. North  London  Aux.       „ 

Booer,  Mr.  W.  J South-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Booth,  Eev.  S.  H.,  D.D Baptist  Union. 

Bertram,  Mrs South  Essex  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Bowhill,  Mr.  E.  E East  London  Aux.       „ 

Bowman,  Miss  A.  D South-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Bowtell,  Mr.  A.  E.,  jun Haverhill       „ 

Boycott,  Mrs Barnsley       „ 

Boyd,  Mr.  J.  A S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Boyd,  Mrs North  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Brailsford,  Mr Nottingham       ,, 

Brailsford,  Mrs ,,  .„ 

Branch,  Mr.  W West  London  Aux.       „ 

Brandon,  Mr.  C Islington  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Bray,  Mr.  E.  J Tottenham  and  Edmonton  Aux.       ,, 

Briant,  Mr.  Dutton Brighton       „ 

Bromley,  Miss  0.  M.  H Haverhill       „ 

Brown,  Mr.  T Leicestershire       ,, 

Brown,  Mr.  W Birmingham       „ 

Brown,  Mrs.  W ,,  „ 

Browning,  Mr.  G Ilford  and  District       ,, 

Bryer,  Mr.  Charles  Thame       „ 

Buchanan,  Mr.  D Paisley       „ 

Buchanan,  Mrs „  ,, 

Burgess,  Mr.  H.  T South-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Burt,  Mr.  C S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Burt,  Mr.  Thos Guildford  S.  S.  U. 

Bush,  Mr Ncrth-East  London  Aux.       ,, 

Bush,  Mrs.  A East  London  Aux.       „ 

Buttfield,  Mr.  J.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Callender,  Mr.  H 

Cameron,  Mrs Clapham  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Carlisle,  Mr.  D Wes.  Meth.       „ 

Carrett,  Mr.  T.  A Ipswich       „ 

Carruthers,  Mr.  A.  G Bedford       „ 

Carruthers,  Mr.  G S.  S.  U.'Council. 

Carryer,  Miss  F Leicestershire       ,, 

Carter,  Mr.  Geo North-East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Carver,  Mr.  W.  H Ipswich       „ 

Castle,  Mr.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Champness,  Miss  J Kochester  and  Chatham  S.  S.  U. 

Chaplin,  Eev.  W.  Knight Sec,  Y.  P.  S.  C.  E. 

Chapman,  Mr.  G.  B S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Chappell,  Miss  Myra Barnsley  S.  S.  U. 

Child,  Mr.  A.  W Islington  Aux.       „ 

Childs,  Mrs South-East  London  Aux.       „ 


300  Appendix. 

Chippendale,  Mr.  R Lancashire  Association  of  S.  S.  tJ.'s. 

Cliisholm,  ]\Iis8  F.  E South-Wcst  London  Aux.       ,, 

Clamp,  Rev.  T Prim.  Meth.       „. 

Clark,  Miss  Lincoln       ,, 

Clark,  Mr.  D Reading       „ 

Clark,  Mr.  J.  Walker Halifax       „ 

Clark,  Mr.  W Eythorne       „ 

Clark,  Mr.  W.  J 

Clarke,  Miss Tottenham  and  Edmonton  Aux.       ,, 

Clarke,  Miss  A „  ,,  ,, 

Clarke,  Mr.  C.  Goddard,  L.C.C S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Clarke,  Mr.  John S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Norwich  S.  S.  U. 

Clatworthy,  Mr.  W Bermondsey  Aux.       „ 

Clements,  Mr.  F S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Clibbett,  Mr.  Wm Bristol  S.  S.  U. 

Clifford,  Rev.  J.,  M.A.,  D.D S.  S.  Union  (Vice-President) 

and  National  Council  of  Evangelical  Free  Churches 

Clifford,  Mr.  H Oxford  S.  S.  U. 

Coates,  Mr.  H.  W Henley  and  District       „ 

Cole,  Mr.  H South-East  London  Aux. 

CoUard,  Mr West  London  Aux. 

Collier,  Mr.  W.  H Colchester 

CoUigan,  Rev.  J.  H Students'  Presbyterian  Missionary  8oelety. 

Comyn,  Mr.  C.  A South  Essex  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Cook,  Mr.  E.  A Bermondsey  Aux.       „ 

Coombs,  Mr.  A.  E Birmingham       ,, 

Cooper,  Mr.  W East  London  Aux.       „ 

Coote,  Mr.  C.  N S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Cope,  Mr.  E Nottingham  S.  S.  U. 

Cope,  Mrs.  E „  „ 

Corbett,  Mr.  W Leicestershire       „ 

Cottar,  Mr.  A.  H Religious  Tract  Society. 

Cox,  ISIiss  E North  Loudon  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Cox,  Mr.  J.  JI Yeovil 

Cox,  Mr.  T.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Crabtree,  Mr.  J Burnley  S.  S.  U. 

Crawford,  Mr.  A Glasgow       „ 

Cieasey,  Mr.  George Western  Kent       „ 

Creasey,  Mr.  J.  R ,,  ,, 

Crombie,  Rev.  W Prim.  Meth.  Missionary  Society. 

Cross,  Mr.  W.  Mann North  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Crouch,  Rev.  H.  J Weybridge       „ 

Crowther,  Mr.  J.  S S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Cruikshauk,  Mr.  W Lambeth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Culley,  Rev.  R Wes.  Meth. 

Cumpper,  Miss  S.  M Battersea  Aux.       „ 

Cunnington,  Mr.  A.  G Rushden  and  Thrapstone  District       „ 

Cumock,  Rev.  N Wes.  Meth.       „ 


List  of  Delegates.  301 

Curtis,  Mr.  C.  W South  Essex  Aux.  B.  S.  U. 

Curtis,  Mr.  J.  A South-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Dakin,  Mr.  W.  H Norwich       „ 

Davies,  Mr.  R.  W Darlington       „ 

Davis,  Mr.  B.  R Yeovil       „ 

Davis,  Mrs.  B.  R „  „ 

Davis,  Rev.  C.  A Stroud       ,, 

Davis,  Rev.  J.  Rhys Y.  P.  S.  C.  E. 

Dawson,  Miss  K Battersea  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Day,  Mrs Henley  and  District       ,, 

Dearden,  Mr.  F.  W Huddersfield       „ 

Devey,  Mrs Birmingham       ,, 

Dick,  Mr.  A.  A Glasgow       „ 

Dickie,  Mrs .* Bristol  S.  S.  U. 

Dingley,  Mr.  A Yeovil       „ 

Dingley,  Mr.  Alfred Weymouth,  Portland,  and  Dorchester       ,, 

Dobbie,  Mr.  "W Glasgow       „ 

Dobell,  Miss East  London  Aux.       ,, 

Docking,  Mr.  F.  R East  Surrey  Aux.       ,, 

Docwra,  Miss  0 S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Witham       „ 

Dodds,  Mr.  A S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Dodds,  Mr.  G.  W London  Missionary  Society. 

Douglas,  Mr West  London  Aux.  S.  S.U. 

Dow,  Mr.  H.  N Rochester  and  Chatham       ,, 

Dowling,  Mr.  Thos Wandsworth  Aux.       ,, 

Drew,  Mr.  W North  London  Aux.       „ 

Driver,  Mr.  D Prim.  Metli.       „ 

Dunlop,  Mr.  W.  L.,  M.A.... Students'  Presbyterian  Missionary  Society. 

Dunstall,  Mr.  W Rochester  and  Chatham  S.  S.  U. 

Dutton,  Mr.  H Lambeth  Aux. 

Eade,  Mr.  W Ipswich 

Eames,  Rev.  J.,  B.A Cambridge 

Easts,  Miss  H.  E South-East  London  Aux. 

Eatough,  Mr.  Oliver Manchester 

Eccleston,  Mr.  G.  H Liverpool 

Edmunds,  Mr.  E.  N Islington  Aux. 

Edwards,  Miss  North  London  Aux. 

Edwards,  Mr.  A.  A West  Bromwich 

Edwards,  Mr.  E.  E Brighton 

Edwards,  Mr.  Thos Islington  Aux. 

Edwards,  Mr.  W South  Essex  Aux. 

Elliott,  Mr.  W.  H Lambeth  Aux. 

Ellis,  Mr.  C.  H « Huddersfield 

Ellis,  Mr.  G.  H.  B Hollinwood  and  Fails  worth 

Ellis,  Mrs „  „  „ 

Engwall,  Rev.  C.  J Swedish  Missionary  Society. 

Esther,  Sister Lincoln  S.  S.  U. 

Eujreals,  Mr.  R Stowmarket 


302  Appendix. 

Everatt,  Mr.  T.  H Newcnstle-on-Tyne  S.  S.  U. 

Fairbanke,  Mr.  Wm Friends'  Fii-st  Day-School  Convention. 

Fairclough,  Mr.  A Barn.slcy  S.  S.  U. 

Falkner,  Mr.  A.  J Lambeth  Aux.       „ 

Farmer,  Miss  E Worcester       „ 

Farnworth,  Mr.  J.  II Salford       „ 

Faulkner,  Mr.  G West  Herts       „ 

Fear,  Mr.  C.  F West  London  Aux.       „ 

Fenton,  Mr.  T Rossendale       „ 

Field,  Miss Southend       „ 

Field,  Mr.  John Northampton       „ 

Fifoot,  Mr.  F Cardifif      „ 

Finn,  Mr.  W Ashford       „ 

Firth,  Mr.  S S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Leicestershire       „ 

Fisk,  Miss West  Herts       „ 

Fleet,  Miss  J Aylesbury       „ 

Fleming,  Rev.  Canon,  B.D S.  S.  U.  (Vice-President)  and 

Religious  Tract  Society. 

Flemming,  Rev.  J.  R Y.  P.  S.  C.  E. 

Flood,  Miss  H Wandsworth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Forbes,  Miss  0 Y.  W.  C.  A. 

Fortune,  Mr.  li Newcastle-on-Tyne  S.  S.  U. 

Foskett,  Mr.  R Wes.  Meth.       „ 

Foster,  Mr.  F.  C Bridgwater       „ 

Foster,  Mrs.  F.  C „  „ 

Fowle,  Mr.  C Wes.  Meth.       „ 

Fowler,  Mr.  T Romford       „ 

Fowler,  Mrs „  „ 

Fraser,  Miss East  London  Aux.       „ 

Freeman,  Miss Y.  W.  C.  A. 

Freeman,  Miss  C Northampton  S.  S.  U. 

Freeman,  Mr.  G Chesham  and  District       „ 

French,  Mrs.  W Rushden  and  Thrapstone  District       „ 

Friend,  Mr.  D Brighton       „ 

Frost,  Mr.  W^  W Romford       „ 

Fulford,  Mr.  W Sheffield 

Gardner,  Mr.  J Western  Northamptonshire       „ 

Gardner,  Rev.  J South-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Garner,  Mr.  A Aylesbury       „ 

Garrod,  Miss Birkenhead       „ 

Gatehouse,  Mr.  F.  W Reading       „ 

Gawthorp,  Mr.  C.  A East  Surrey  Aux.       „ 

Gawthorp,  Mr.  W.  E „        „  „  „ 

George,  Mr.  A.  C Colchester       „ 

George,  Mrs „  „ 

Gibb,  Mr.  D East  Ijondon  Aux.       „ 

GibbSjIMiss  F.  M Northampton       „ 

Gibbs,  Mr.  T West  London  Aux.       „ 


List  of  Delegates.  303 

Gibsou,  Eev.  J.  Monro,  D.D S.  S.  Union  (Vice-President) 

and  National  Council  of  Evangelical  Free  Churches. 

Giddins,  Kev.  G.  H Sec,  Evangelical  Continental  Society. 

Gilchrist,  Kev.  E.  J Ipswich  S.  S.  U. 

Gillett,  Mr.  H South-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Girling,  Mr.  E Ipswich       „ 

Gladstone,  Dr.  J.  H.,  F.E  S Vice-President       „ 

Glanborow,  Mr.  W.  H South  Essex  Aux.       „ 

Glover,  Mr .....Woolwich     „  „ 

Goodman,  Miss Bedford       „ 

Goodman,  Mr.  A Taunton       „ 

Goodman,  Mr,  T Koyston  District       „ 

Goodman,  Kev.  W Prim.  Meth.  Miss.  Society, 

Goodwin,  Mr.  W.  T S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Gordon,  Mr.  J Isle  of  Sheppey  S.  S.  U, 

Gore,  Mrs Birmingham       „ 

Goscomb,  Mr.  G Hednesford       „ 

Gosling,  Mr.  P.  W Birmingham       „ 

Gosling,  Mrs.  F.  W , „  „ 

Gostling,  Miss  Stowmarket       „ 

Gotts,  Mr.  J.  B South  Essex  Aux.       „ 

Gould,  Kev.  F.  J Haverhill       „ 

Gould,  Mr.  F West  London  Aux.       „ 

Gover,  Mr.  E.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Gow,  Mr.  J Newcastle-on-Tyne  S.  S.  U. 

Gow,  Mrs.  Ellen „  „  „ 

Graham,  Mr.  J.,  J.P Hartlepool       „ 

Graham,  Mr.  W Newport  (Mon.)       „ 

Gratton,  Mr.  A.  E East  London  Aux.       „ 

Green,  Miss  C Lambeth      „  „ 

Green,  Rev.  S.  G.,  D.D S.  S.  U.  (Vice-President) 

and  Eeligious  Tract  Society. 

Green,  Eev.  T.  L Colonial  Miss.  Society. 

GrifJSn,  Colonel  J.  T S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Grim  wade,  Mr.  J.  H ,  „ 

Groh,  Mr.  N South  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Groser,  Mr.  W.  H.,  B.Sc Hon.  Sec.       „ 

Grout,  Mr.  J Ashford       „ 

Grubb,  Eev.  J.  H Wes.  Meth. 

Gurney-Smith,  Mr.  A S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Hadfield,  Mr.  J Sheffield  S.  S.  U. 

Hailes,  Mr.  J.  S Islington  Aux. 

Hall,  Mrs Woolwich     „ 

Hall,  Mr.  Edward South  Essex     „ 

Hardcastle,  Miss Leeds 

Harding,  Mr.  J.  G East  London  Aux. 

Hardman,  Mr.  E Eossendale 

Hardwick,Mr.  W Bristol 


304  Appendix. 

Harrison,  Mr.  J Leeds  S.  S.  U. 

Harrison,  Mr.  J Prim.  Meth. 

Harvey,  Mr.  W.  F Ashford       „ 

Harwood,  Mr.  T.  A F^towmarket 

Hatfield,  Mrs Braintree  and  Booking       „ 

Haward,  Mr North-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Hawkes,  Mr.  H B.  S.  U.  Council. 

Hawkeswell,  Mr.  H Burnley  S.  S.  U. 

Hawkins,  Mr.  C.  E Tslington  Aux.       „ 

Hawkins,  Mr.  F.  H Donbighsliirc 

Hayes,  Mr.  D.  R B-  S.  U.  Council. 

Hayward,  Miss  A Wandsworth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Hayward,  Mr.  T East  London     „  „ 

Head,  Miss West  London      „  „ 

Head,  Mr.  W.  H South-East  London      „  „ 

Hearn,  Miss  S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Northampton       „ 

Hearn,  Mr Woolwich  Aux.       „ 

Hearn,  Mrs »  "  >» 

Heath,  Mr.  A.  J Leicestershire       „ 

Hodo-es  Mr West  London  Aux.       „ 

Hedges,' Mr.  W Wes.  Miss.  Society 

Hedges,  Mr.  Wm Wes.  Meth.  S.  S.  U. 

Hedley,  Miss Y.  W.  C.  A, 

Heron  Mr.  E.  P Lancashire  Asso.  of  S.  S.  U.'s 

Herschell,  Mr.  A Birkenhead  S.  S.  U. 

Hicks,  Mrs Friends'  First  Day  School  Convention. 

Higham,  Mr Lambeth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Hill,  Mr.  C.  Newman B.  S.  U,  Council. 

Hill  Mr.  J.  A Hull  and  District  S.  S.  U. 

Hill,'Mrs.F » 

Hines,  Mr.  W.  H Bradford       „ 

Hincs,  Mrs.  W\  H »  >» 

Hinton,  Mr.  Luther S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Hirst,  Mr.  C Huddersfield  S.  S.  U. 

Hirst,  Mr.  J.  H „  » 

Hitchcock,  Mr Sudbury 

Hitchcock,  Mr.  W.  M President,  Colonial  Miss.  Society 

Hobbis,  Mr.  W.  B Sheffield  S.  S.  U. 

Hobill,  Mr.  G.  A Lambeth  Aux.       „ 

Holford,  Mrs West  London      „  „ 

Holiday,  Mr.  Chas Margate 

Hollingsworth,  Mr.  J Northampton       „ 

Holme,  Rev.  Ralphc Hitchin 

Holmes,  Mr.  G Darlington 

Holmes,  Mr.  J.  T S-  S.  U.  Council. 

Homer,  Mr.  J.  N Burton-on-Trent  S.  S.  U. 

Homer,  Mrs.  J.  N „  >,  ., 

Hooper,  Mr.  Cleeve S.  S.  U.  Council. 


List  vf  Delegates.  305 

llDbpcr,  Mr.  A Bridgwater  S.  S.  U. 

HoosoD,  Mr.  J.  S Salford       „ 

Home,  Mr.  F.  W South  Essex  Aux.       „ 

Horuer,  Mr.  J.  F Birmingham       „ 

Horner,  Mrs.  J.  F ,,  „ 

Houchin,  Kev.  J.  AV Heckmondwike       „ 

Hough,  Mr.  W Burnley       „ 

Houusom,  Mr.  W.  A.,  J.P S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Brighton  S.  S.  U. 

Hughes,  Miss  G.  H...... Sydenham  and  Forest  Hill  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Hughes,  Miss  H.  E „  „  „  „ 

.Hughes,  Mr.  J.  H South  Surrey       „ 

Hughes,  Mr.  T.  G Newcastle-on-Tyne       „ 

Hulbert,  Mr.  T '. S  S.  U.  Council. 

Hull,  Eev.  C.  S Hitchia  S.  S.  U. 

Hume,  Mr.  T S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Hunt,  Mr.  J.  W Bermondsey  Aux.  S.  S.  U, 

Hunt,  Kev.  T.  H Prim.  Meth.       „ 

Hurry,  Eev.  Nicholas Colonial  Miss.  Society. 

Hutchiogs,  Mr Skipton  S.  S.  U. 

Hutchings,  Mrs „  „ 

Hutton,  Miss  M.  E North-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Huxley,  Mr.  E.  H Islington  Aux.       „ 

Hyslop,  Mr.  E.  M Band  of  Hope  Union. 

Imeson,  Mr.  C Lambeth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Inder,  Miss   „  „  „ 

Ingham,  Mr.  Gates Bradford       „ 

Ingram,  Mr.  John Glasgow       „ 

Innocent,  Mr.  C.  J S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Sheffield     „ 

Inskip,  Mr.  W.  S S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Isitt,  Mr.  C.  W Wes.  Meth.  S.  S.  U. 

Jackson,  Miss  K.  E Lincoln       „ 

Jackson,  Mr Keading       „ 

Jackson,  Mrs ,,  ,, 

Jackson,  Mrs Tottenham  and  Edmonton  Aux.       „ 

James,  Eev.  J.  Scott West  Herts       „ 

Jay,  Mr.  J .South  Essex  Aux.       „ 

Jeffery,  Miss  J.  A West  London  Aux.       „ 

Jeffery,  Mr.  Arnold  Northampton       „ 

Jeffery,  Mr.  H.  J Ashford       „ 

Jeffery,  Mrs „  » 

Jelly,  Mr.  J Coventry       „ 

Jenkinson,  Mr Kettering       „ 

Jewhurst,  Miss Lambeth  Aux.       „ 

Johns,  Mr.  C.  J S.  S.  U.  Council 

Johns,  Mrs.  C.  J Clapham  Aux.       „ 

Johnson,  Mr North-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Johnson,  Mr.  A.  N London  Missionary  Society. 

Johnson,  Mr.  H.  G. East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 


306  Aj^pendtx. 

Johnson,  Kev.  A.  N.,  M.A London  Missionary  Society 

Johnson,  Rev.  0.  F Prim.  Meth.  S.  S.  U. 

Johnson,  Kov.  G.  F Gatc-shead       „ 

Jolinson.  Rev.  J Prim.  Meth.       „ 

Jones,  Mr.  A East  Surrey  Aux.       „ 

Jones,  Mr.  A Sydenham  and  Forest  Hill  Aux.       „ 

Jones,  IMr.  0.  F Gloucester       „ 

Jones,  Mr.  H Middlesbrough       „ 

Jones,  Mr.  H.  T North-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Jordan,  Mr.  F.  M S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Jordan,  Mrs North  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Jo.selin,  Mr.  J.  E Battersea  Aux.       „ 

Jovell,  Mr.  W .' West  London  Aux.       „ 

Jull,  Mr.  J Beult       „ 

Katherine,  Sister Sunderland       „ 

Keeble,  Mr.  W.  F Ipswich       „ 

Kelly,  Kev.  C.  H Wes.  Meth.       „ 

Kemp,  Mr.,  J.P Aberdeen       „ 

Ker,  Mr.  E.  C ^ Glasgow       „ 

Ker,  Mrs.  R.  C „  „ 

Kerr,  Mr.  A East  London  Aux.       „ 

Kettle,  Mr.  A Norwood  and  Pcnge  Aux.       „ 

Keyse,  Mr.  W.  G Ijambeth  Aux.       „ 

Kightley,  Mr.  W Northampton       „ 

King,  Mr.  A Wandsworth  Aux.       „ 

King,  Mr.  W.  H Gosport       „ 

Kiunaird,  Right  Hon.  Lord Vice-President       „ 

Kirby,  Mr Birmingham       „ 

Kirk,  Mr.  John Sec.  Ragged  School  Union. 

Klelsel,  Mr.  C.  J Moravian  Society. 

Knaggs,  Rev.  James Colonial  Missionary        „ 

Knowles,  i\Ir.  Samuel Lancaster  S.  S.  U. 

Knowles,  Mr.  S Lancashire  Association  of  S.  S.  U.'s 

Laing,  Mr.  J.  G West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Lammie,  Miss Kettering       „ 

Lamont,  Rev.  J.  D Y.  P.  S.  C.  E. 

Lancaster,  Mr.  J Liverpool  S.  S.  U. 

Lance,  Mr.  W.  H S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Landless,  Mr.  J Burnley  S.  S.  U. 

Lawrence,  Mr.  T Prim.  Meth.  Miss.  Society. 

Lear,  Mr.  S.  E East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Lee,  Mr.  AV Glasgow       „ 

Leech,  Mr.  J East  Surrey  Aux.       „ 

Legg,  Mr.  D.  J Religious  Tract  Society, 

Lewis,  Mr.  C.  J.... Bermondsey  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Lewis,  Mr.  J.  G S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Liddiard,  Mr.  J.  E.,  F.R.G.S „  „ 

Linom,  Mr.  T.  J South  Essex  Aux.  S.  S,  U. 


List  of  Delegates.  307 

Little,  Mr.  E.  J Sydenham  and  Forest  Hill  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Little,  Mrs „  „        „  „         „        „ 

Logan,  Miss Glasgow       „ 

Logan,  Mrs Darlington       „ 

Lohmann,  Mr.  C Tottenham  and  Edmonton  Anx.       „ 

Loughall,  Miss  Mary  E.  Northampton       „ 

Lovell,  Mr.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Lovell,  Mrs.  W West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Lucas,  Mr.  H.  J North  London  Aux.       „ 

Lumb,  Mr Halifax       „ 

Lush,  Dr.  Percy  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

Lyon,  Kev.  J Congl.  Union  of  Ireland. 

Machcn,  Mr.  J Barusley  S.  S.  U. 

Machen,  Mrs „  „ 

Maclaren,  Miss North- West  London  Aux.       „ 

Macree,  Mr.  A Students'  Pres.  Miss.  Society. 

Malbott,  Mrs.  E.  M Manchester  S.  S.  U. 

Manger,  Mr.  J.  H Hull  and  District 

Manktelow,  Mr.  E Kochester  and  Chatham       „ 

Marnham,  Mr.  F.  J Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

Marsden,  Mr.  J.  W Blackburn  S.  S.  U. 

Marsden,  Mrs.  J.  W „  „ 

Martin,  Mr.  S East  London  Aux.       ,, 

Marychurch,  Mr.  J.  G Cardiff       „ 

Mason,  Mr.  T Hednesford       „ 

Matthews,  Mr.  R.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

May,  Mr.  D.  T Bristol  S.  S.  U. 

May,  Mrs.  D.  T „  „ 

May,  Mr.  T South-East  London  Aux.       „ 

McCulley,  Mr.  Thos Gosport       „ 

McDonald,  Mr.  W North  London  Aux.       „ 

McDougall,  Mr.  Joseph Glasgow       „ 

McDougall,  Mr.  J.  P Salfurd 

McGill,  Mr.  J Gla,sgow       „ 

Mclndoe,  Mr.  J Taunton       „ 

Mcintosh,  Mr.  A.  S Glasgow       „ 

McLaren,  Eev.  A.,  D.D Lancashire  Association  of  S.  S.  LI.'s 

McMain,  Mr.  J Northampton  S.  S.  U. 

Mead,  Mr.  A.  S Cardiff      „ 

Meek,  Mr.  A.  H West  London  Aux.       „ 

Mellors,  Mr.  R Nottingham       „ 

Mercer,  Mr.  J.  B...S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Lancashire  Assoc,  of  S.  S.  U.'s 

Midgley,  Mrs Huddersfield  S.  S.  U. 

Midwinter,  Mr.  H.  J Newbury 

Miller,  Mr.  D.  G Glasgow       „ 

Mills,  Mr Birmingham       „ 

Mills,  Eev.  W.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Milsou,  Mr.  W.  G ,,  .» 

X  2 


308  Appendix. 

Minnis,  Mr.  J West  Loudon  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Mitchell,  Mr.  It Eochester  and  Cliathara       „ 

Mitchell,  liev.  T Prim.  Meth. 

Monro,  Mr.  A.  C Lambeth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Montgomery,  Mr.  W President,  Students'  Pres.  Miss.  Society. 

Moore,  Mr.  John  J Coventry  S.  S.  U. 

Moore,  Mr.  J Sabbath  School  Society  for  Ireland. 

Moore,  Mr.  S West  London  Anx.  S.  S.  U. 

Moore,  Mrs.  E.  W Y.  W.  C.  A. 

Morrell,  Mr.  Wm Friends'  First  Day  School  Convention. 

Morriss,  Mr.  Henry British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

Muir,  Mr.  R.  W Paisley  S.  S.  U. 

MuUord,  Miss North  London  Aux.       „ 

Murrage,  Mrs.  L.  H Bermondsey  Aux.       „ 

Mustill,  Mr.  James  Northampton       ,, 

Myers,  Rev.  J.  B Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

Nash,  Mr Clapham  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Naylor,  Miss  E West  London  Aux.       ,, 

Neal,  Mr.  J North  London  Aux.       ,, 

Neal,  Mr.  W.  J South  Essex  Aux.       „ 

Neighbour,  Mr.  AV West  London  Aux.       „ 

Newell,  ]\Ir.  C.  J West  Hants  and  East  Dorset       „ 

Newell,  Mrs.  C.  J 

Nicholson,  Mr.  Howard Friends'  First  Day  School  Convention. 

Nicholson,  Mrs.  Howard „  ,,  ,, 

Nicholson,  Mr.  S.  T Meth.  New  Counexiou. 

Nicholson,  Mr.  W.  H Manchester  S.  S.  U. 

Nicole,  Mr.  E.  R S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Norris,  Mr.  E „  „ 

Norlh,  Mr.  T.  J Grimsby  S.  S.  U. 

Northampton,  the  Most  Noble  Marquis  of President       „ 

Nye,  Mr.  J.  L Islington  Aux.       „ 

Gates,  Mr.  Smith  Heckmondwike       „ 

Gatley,  Mr.  F West  Herts       „ 

Oatway,  Mr.  W.  C Bristol       „ 

Oldfield,  Mr.  J.  G S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Oliver,  Mr.  J.  T Newcastle-on-Tyne  S.  S.  U. 

Oliver,  Mrs.  J.  T 

Olson,  Mr East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Orton,  Mrs South-East  London  Aux. 

Packman,  Miss  E Bristol       „ 

Page,  Mr Bridgwater       „ 

Parker,  Mies Lambeth  Aux.       „ 

Parker,  Mr.  W.  H Soutli-West  London  Aux. 

Parker,  Mr.  W.  E Prim.  Meth. 

Parker,  Rev.  Joseph,  D.D Vice-President       „ 

Parkin,  Rev.  G.,  M.A.,  B.D Northampton       „ 

Parkin,  Mr.  G Manchester       „ 


^  List  of  Delegates,  309 

Parlano,  Mr.  J Paisley  S.  S.  U. 

Patterson,  Mr.  D.  G S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Patlison,  Mr Colchester  S.  S.  U. 

Pawson,  Mr.  Eichavd Margate       „ 

Payne,  Mr.  Wm Ragged  School  Union. 

Pegg,  Mr.  A.  J Derby  S.  S.  U, 

Penny,  Miss  ..  South-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Penny,  Mr.  T Taunton       „ 

Penny,  Mrs.  T „ 

Perkins,  Mr Wandsworth  Aux.       „ 

Perks,  Mr.  G Colchester       „ 

Philcox,  Mr.  H.  N Lambeth  Aux. 

Phillips,  Mr.  J Brighton 

Pl)ilps,  Eev.  A.  D , Congregational  Union. 

Platts,  Mr.  C.  M South-East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Plowman,  Mrs Northampton       „ 

Plumb,  Mr.  H S.  S.  U.  Council. 

PoUitt,  Miss Barnsley  S.  S.  U. 

Pollitt,  Miss  M „ 

Poore,  Miss t East  London  Aux.       „ 

Porritt,  Miss  Catherine Huddersfield       „ 

Porritt,  Mr.  J.  E , 

Porter,  Mr.  H.  E Ilford  and  District       „ 

Price,  Eev.  W.  J Baptist  Missionary  Society. 

Pringle,  Mr.  P S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Pringle,  Mr Woolwich  Aux.  S.  S.  U, 

Pryke,  Mr.  A Islington  Aux.       „ 

Pryor,  Mr.  B South  Essex  Aux.       „ 

PuUinger,  Mr.  W.  W Brighton       „ 

Purver,  Mr.  W.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Putterill,  Mr.  John  H Sec,  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Pye-Smith,  Mrs.  Arnold London  Missionary  Society. 

Quinn,  Mr.  G.  W Sydenham  and  Forest  Hill  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Quinn,  Mrs „  „  „  „  „ 

Ealph,  Mr Eeading  S.  S.  U. 

Eamsbottom,  Mr.  J Eochdale       „ 

Eanger,  Mr.  P Lewes  and  District  S.  S.  U. 

Eawlings,  Mr.  Edward Vice-President       „ 

Eawlings,  Mr.  E.  C Prim.  Meth.  S.  S.  U. 

Eaymond,  Miss Norwood  and  Penge  Aux.       „ 

Eees,  Mr.  Sidney , Haverfordwest       „ 

Eees,  Mr?.  Sidney ,,  „  „ 

Eeid,  Mr  A.  J.  E Glasgow  S.  S.  U. 

Eeid,  Miss  J.  J „  „ 

Eendell,  Eev.  A.  C.  G West  Northamptonshire       „ 

Eeynolds,  Mr.  E.  B Friends'  First  Day  School  Convention. 

Ehodes,  Rev.  F Huddersfield     „ 

Eibbons,  Mr.  D , Lambeth  Aux.       „ 


310  Appendix. 

Kichards,  Mr.  M.  W 8.  S.  U.  Council. 

Richards,  licv.  W.  II Colonial  Missionary  Society. 

Ilicliardson,  Mr.  T.  1\ Congregational  Union. 

Richardson,  Mr.  T.  R Woolwich  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Rickett,  Mr.  W.  R S.  8.  U.  (Vice-President),  and  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society. 

Riley,  Mr.  J Nottingham  S.  S.  U. 

Roberts,  Mr.  S Doncaster       „ 

Robertson,  Mr.  Joseph Ragged  School  Union. 

Robinson,  Mr.  J South-East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Robinson,  Mr.  W.  T '. S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Rogers,  Rev.  Dr Congregational  Union. 

Rood,  Mr.  S.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Rook,  Mr.  W.  N Band  of  Hope  Union. 

Rose,  Mr.  J Sunderland  S.  S.  U. 

Rose,  Mrs.  J „  „ 

Ross,  Rev.  A Stockton  S.  S.  U. 

Rothery,  Mr.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Rowe,  Mr.  T „  „ 

Rowe,  Mr.  W.  E Xorth-East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Rowell,  Mr.  W Rochdale       „ 

Rowland,  Rev.  Alfred Congregational  Union. 

Russell,  Mr.  F West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Russell,  Mr.  W.  T S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Russitt,  Mr.  H.  de Soutli-East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Rutherford,  Mr.  J Birmingham       „ 

Sadd,  Mr.  J.  P Witham        „ 

Sage,  Mr Bristol       „ 

Salter,  Mr.  J.  E Oxford 

Sanders,  Miss  West  London  Aux.       „ 

Sanders,  Mr.  W Tottenham  and  Edmonton  Aux.       „ 

Saunders,  Mr Wandsworth  Aux.       „ 

Saunders,  Mr.  J.  E S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Saunders,  Mr.  J.  J Eastbourne  S.  S.  U. 

Sawday,  Rev.  G.  W Wes.  Missionary  Society. 

Sawtell,  Mr.  J South  Essex  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Sawyer,  Mr Clapham  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Sawyer,  Mr.  R Sydenham  and  Forest  Hill      „         „ 

Schultz,  Mr.  W.  A South-East  Loudon  Aux.       „ 

Scott-France,  Mr.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Scales,  Mr.  T.  E , „  „ 

Searle,  Mr.  S.  C Clapham  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Secars,  Mr Bristol       „ 

Scears,  Mrs „  „ 

Selwood,  Mrs Nottingham       „ 

Selwyu,  Mr.  J Soutli  Sumy       ,, 

Sharp,  Mr West  London  Aux.       „ 

Sharp,  Mr.  Joseph Armley  and  Wortley       „. 


List  of  Delegates.  311 

Sharp,  Rev.  John British  and  Foreign  Bible  Hociety. 

.Shaw,  Mr Nottingham  S.  S.  U. 

Shaw,  Mrs „  „ 

Shaw,  Mr.  Read Middlesbrough       „ 

Shears,  Miss Wandsworth  Aux.       „ 

Shears,  Mr.  H South-West  London    „         „ 

Sheen,  Rev.  Danzy Prim.  Meth.       „ 

Shepheard,  Mr.  A.  J Congregational  Union. 

.Shillington,  Mr.  D.  F Wes.  Meth.  S.  S.  U. 

Shipway,  Mr.  G S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Birmingham       „ 

.  Shipway,  Mrs.  G „  „ 

Shore,  Mr.  E Rochdale       „ 

Shoroy,  Mr.  J.  F Ragged  School  Union. 

Shrimpton,  Mr.  A.  R Thame  S.  S.  U- 

Shutter,  Mr.  T.  O Battersea  Aux.       „ 

Sihlati,  Rev.  S.  P Colonial  Miss.  Society. 

Simman,  Mr.  J Witham  S.  S.  U. 

Sizer,  Mr Ipswich       „ 

Sizer,  Rev.  R Hull  and  District       „ 

Skelbeck,  Mr Wes.  Meth.       „ 

Skelton,  Mr.  S Sheffield       „ 

Slater,  Miss  Elizabeth Wellingboro'       „ 

Smeeton,  Mr Leicestershire       „ 

Smeeton,  Mrs Islington  Aux.       „ 

Smeeton,  Mr.  R.  H S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Smith,  Mr.  A Glasgow  S.  S.  U. 

Smith,  Mr.  C.  R Birmingham       „ 

Smith,  Mr.  D.  F S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Smith,  Mr.  E.  T Clapham  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Smith,  Mr.  F.  E S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Lincoln       „ 

Smith,  Mrs.  F.  E „  „ 

Smith,  Mr.  H Birmingham       „ 

Smith,  Mr.  H Moravian  Society. 

Smith,  Mr.  W.  Hind Y.  M.  C.  A. 

Smith,  Mrs South-East  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Smith,  Mrs.  W.  L West  Herts       „ 

Smith,  Rev.  J Prim.  Meth.       „ 

Smith,  Rev.  John President — Prim.  Meth.  Miss.  Society. 

Snowdon,  Mr.  T.  G S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Somervtlle,  Mr.  J Lambeth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Sortwell,  Mr.  R West  London  Aux.       „ 

Soul,  Mr.  A.  B Islington     „  „ 

Souster,  Mr.  W.  J Northampton       „ 

Southee,  Mr East  London  Aux.       „ 

Spencer,  Mr.  C.  J Western  Kent       „ 

Spicer,  Mr.  G British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

Spink,  Mr.  J West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Spray,  Miss Lewes  and  District  „ 


312  Appendix. 

Spurgeon,  Ecv.  J.  A.,  D.D Baptist  Union. 

Squires,  Mrs Derby  ,S.  S.  U. 

tStacey,  Mi^^s  F Bristol       „ 

Stiincsby,  Mr.  II.  J South-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Stanley,  Mr.  G Eythornc       „ 

St:irr,  Mr.  E.  11 Wigan       „ 

Steiilicns,  Mr.  S East  London  Aux.       „ 

Stokes,  Mr.  F.  8 Beult 

Stone,  Mr.  Richard  Ragged  School  Union. 

Stoncley,  Rev.  Thos Methodist  New  Connexion. 

Story,  Mr.  K Sunderland  S.  S.  U. 

Stuart,  Mr.  R.  L Bermondsey  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Sully,  Mr.  G.  B S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Surtues,  Mr.  H.  M Derby  S.  S.  U. 

Sweeper,  Mr.  J Prim.  Meth.       „ 

Swift,  Mr.  J Nottingham       „ 

Tait,  Mr.  D Glasgow       „ 

Talbot,  Miss  E Portsmouth       „ 

Talbot,  Mr.  G.  W Reading       „ 

Tapps,  I\Ir North-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Tate,  Mr.  J.  II Huddersfield       „ 

Tate,  Mrs.  J.  H 

Taylor,  Miss Kettering       „ 

Taylor,  Mr.  Fred Sec,  Friends'  First  Day  School  Convention. 

Taylor,  Mr.  T S.  S.  U.  CouncU. 

Taylor,  Mr.  W.  T „ 

Teasdale,  Mr.  J Carlisle  S.  S.  U. 

Tetley,  Rev.  J.  P Taunton 

Tliomas,  Mr.  E Yorkshire  Association  of  S.  S.  U.'s 

Thomas,  Mr.  J South  Bucks  and  Maidenhead  S.  S.  U. 

Tiiomas,  Mr.  John Band  of  Hope  Union. 

Thompson,  Mr.  J.  H Newbury  S.  S.  U. 

Thompson,  Mr.  T.  C,  J.P Northampton       „ 

Thompson,  ^Irs Nortli-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Thomson,  Mr.  P Glasgow       „ 

Tillett,  Mr.  J Hon.  Sec. 

Timpson,  Miss Birkenhead       „ 

Tooke,  Mr.  H.  O East  Suflblk       „ 

Toone,  Mr.  S S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Towers,  Mr.  E „  „ 

Townsend,  Mr.  J Barnsley,  S.  S.  U. 

Townsend,  Mr.  Tlios „  „ 

Townsend,  W.  G Lancashire  Association  of  S.  S.  U.'s 

Toynbee,  Mr.  W.  N Islington  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Tucker,  Mr.  R S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Tuley,  Mr.  J „  „ 

TumbuU,  Mr.  E „ 

Turner,  Mr.  G.  C Leicestershire  S.  S.  U. 


List  of  Delegates.  313 

Twaittes,  Miss Islington  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Unwin,  Mr.  E Congregational  Union. 

Unwin,  Mr.  F.  D Haverhill  S.  S.  U. 

Uttley,  Mr.  S Sheffield       „ 

Vatita,  Mr.  F.  A West  London  Aux.       „ 

"Veal,  Mr.  K.  G Battersea  Aux.       „ 

Vernon,  Mr.  J.  J S.  vS.  U.  Council. 

Vincent,  Mr.  Samuel  Plymouth  S.  S.  U. 

Vincent,  Eev.  S President,  Baptist  Union. 

Waite,  Mr.  W.  L. West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Wakeley,  Mr.  Chas Sec,  Band  of  Hope  Union. 

Wakelin,  Mr.  J.  K West  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Wallis,  Mr.  J Eoystou  District       „ 

Wallis,  Mr.  T Leicestershire       „ 

Waller,  Mr Woolwich  Aux.       „ 

Walter,  Mr „  „  „ 

Walter,  Mr.  T South  Essex  Aux.       ., 

Walton,  Mr.  J.  J Hull  and  District       „ 

Warlters,  Mr Southend       „ 

Warmington,  Mr.  F.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Warner,  Mr.  A.  W Ipswich  S.  S.  U. 

Warner,  Mr.  E.  W South- West  London  Aux.       „ 

Warren,  Mr.  H.  C Ipswich  S.  S.  U. 

Wartyer,  Eev.  Alfred Wes.  Meth.       „ 

Waters,  Mr.  C S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Waters,  Mr.  S.  A Wandsworth  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Watkins,  Miss North-West  London  Aux.       „ 

Watkinson,  Mr.  A.  E Grimsby       „ 

Watkinson,  Mr.  T.  K Prim.  Meth.       „ 

AVatson,  Mr.  A Sheffield       „ 

Watson,  Mr.  J.  G Newcastle-on-Tyne       „ 

Watson,  Mr.  S S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Watson,  Mrs.  W Glasgow       „ 

Watt,  Kev.  J.  G British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

Webb,  Mr.  C.  S Clapham  Aux.  S.  S.  U. 

Webster,  Mr.  A.W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Webster,  Mrs Harrogate  S.  S.  U. 

Weeks,  Mr.   J West  London  Aux.       „ 

Welch,  Mr.  C Bristol       „ 

Wells,  Mr.  I Brighton       „ 

Wells,  Mr.  E South  Essex  Aux.       .,, 

Welton,  Mr.  W Eomford       „ 

Wenyon.Eev.  Dr Lambeth  Aux.       „ 

Whaley,  Mr.  J.  W Lancashire  Association  of  S.  S.  U.'s 

Wheatley,  Mr Lewes  and  District  S.  S.  U. 

Whitby,  Mr.  J Lambeth  Aux. 

White,  Miss  Clara  A Harrogate 

White,  Mr,  Geo.,  J.P Norwich       „ 


314  Appendix. 

Whitty,  Mr.  A.  J Bridgwater  S.  S.  U. 

AVliitworth,  Mr.  J Harrogate       „ 

Wildblooil,  Mr.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Wilde,  Mr.  J.  T Sheffield  S.  S.  U. 

Wilkins,  Mr.  John West  London  Aux.       „ 

Wilkitis,  Mr.  AV.  G London  Missionary  Society 

Wilkersfm,  Mr.  J.  C Royston  District  S.  S.  U. 

Williams,  Miss  A.  L Guildford  S.  S.  U. 

Williams,  Miss  J Isle  of  Sheppey       „ 

Williams,  Mr.  J.  H Friends'  First  Day  School  Convention, 

Williams,  Rev.  C Baptist  Union, 

Williams,  Sir  George Vice-President  S.  S.  U 

Wilson,  Mr.  A East  London  Aux.       „ 

Wilson,  Mr.  T S.  S.  U.  Council  and  Exeter  S.  S.  Union 

Wilson,  Mr.  N Middlesbrough       „ 

Wilson,  Mr.  W Nottingham       „ 

Wilson,  Mr.  AV.  B Birmingham       „ 

Winfield,  Mr.  H Nottingham       „ 

Wirel,  Mr.  G.  H Hull  and  District       „ 

Witchell,  Mrs South-East  London  Aux.       „ 

Witchell,  Mr.  E.  J S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Wood,  Mr.  Fredk Birkenhead  S.  S.  U. 

Wood,  Mr.  Henry Chairman,  Ragged  School  Union 

Wood,  Mr.  J.  R Wcs.  Meth.  S.  S.  U. 

Wood,  Mr.  P.  F „        „  „ 

Wood,  Rev.  J.  R Baptist  Union. 

Woodall,  Mr.  W.,  M.P Burslem  S.  S.  U. 

Worsford,  Mr.  H Wandsworth  Aux.       „ 

Wright,  Mr.  D.  W Maidstone       „ 

Wright,  Mr.  H.  L Liverpool       „ 

Wright,  Mr.  J.  W S.  S.  U.  Council. 

Wright,  Rev.  Dr British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

Young,  Miss North  London  Aux.  S.  S.  U 


UNITED  STATES. 

ARIZONA. 

Defty,  Mrs.  W.  E Phocnis. 

CALIFORNIA. 
Whittington,  Mrs.  J.  W 

COLORADO. 

Waddington,  Miss  J.  E Denver. 


List  of  Delegates.  315 

CONNECTICUT. 

Fellows,  Mr.  I.  D,  H Waurrigan. 

Gardner,  Eev.  G.  H Deep  River. 

McArthur,  Mr.  George Danbury. 

S^argent,  Rev.  F.  D Putnam. 

DISTRICT  COLUMBIA. 

Bristow,  Mr.  P.  H , Washington 

Shallenberger,  Major  W.  S „ 

FLORIDA. 
Groves,  Mr.  H.  C Ocala. 

Groves,  Mrs 

'  )) 

Owen,  Mrs.  C.  E Micanopy 

Owen,  Miss  Lydia 

Sbaw,Rev.  Wm Ocala. 

Williams,  Mr.  F.  H Killarney. 

GEORGIA. 
Maxwell,  Rev.  L.  B Savannah. 

ILLINOIS. 

Bayliss,  Rev.  C.  T Chicago. 

Bragg,  Miss  Mary  J „ 

Brown,  Mr.  R.  C Farmiiigton. 

Bryner,  Mrs.  Mary  Foster  Chicago. 

Connell,  Mr.  W.  G Farmington. 

Foster,  Mrs.  C- Peoria. 

Hamill,  Professor  H.  M Jacksonville. 

Hamill,  Mrs „ 

Jacobs,  Mr.  W.  B Chicago. 

Jacobs,  Miss  Anna    „ 

Medland,  Miss  Ella Clinton. 

Parker,  Mrs.  F.  W Chicago. 

Rundle,  Mr.  W.  B Clinton. 

Strain,  Rev.  H.  L 

Warren,  Mr.  C.  H Chicago. 

Watson,  Mr.  C.  S Clinton. 

Watson,  Mrs „ 

INDIANA. 

Craig,  Mr.  A.  D Fort  Wayne. 

Meigs,  Mr.  C.  D Indianapolis. 

Meigs,  Mrs „ 

Parks,  Mr.  J.  W Plymouth. 

Parks,  Mrs „ 

Speicher,  Mr.  J.  B Urbana. 


316  Appendix. 

IOWA. 

Buckley,  Mise  E.  T Strawberry  Poiut. 

KANSAS. 

Allen,  Mr.  L.  J Colby. 

liatchelor,  Mr.  Johu,  J.P 

Bowie,  Mr.  D 

Brown,  Mr.  M Blue  Hill. 

Brown,  Miss  M „ 

Schriver,  Mrs.  E.  V 

Schriver,  Miss  B 

Wills,  Mr.  J.  E 

MAINE. 

Hinckley,  Kev.  G.  W E.  Fairfield. 

Newcombe,  Rev.  W.  A Thormaston. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Adams,  Rev.  R.  J Boston. 

Allis,  Miss  F.  A Noi^Wood. 

Andrews,  Rev.  G.  W Dalton. 

Bentley,  Mr.  C.  N Chelsea. 

Bigelow.Mr.  E.  S Lowell. 

Bigelow,  Mrs „ 

Blaikie,  Miss  M.  E W.  Medford. 

Borden,  Miss  C.  F Fall  River. 

Borden,  Miss  Ida  E „ 

Bristol,  Mr.  F.  L Uxbridge. 

Brock,  Mr.  W.H Athol. 

Brock,  Mrs.  W.  H „ 

Brown,  Mr.  Edward  W Boston. 

BuiT,  Miss  E.  L  Rdxbury. 

Calef,  Miss  E.  M Lowell. 

Clarke,  Rev.  G.  H Winthorp. 

Clarke,  Miss  L.  Rutb „ 

Conant,  Mr.  H.  S Boston. 

Conant,  Mrs.  S „ 

Conant,  Mr.  W.  E Littletown. 

Couant,  Mrs.  W.  E 

Croply,  Mrs  L.  L Boston. 

Dight,  Rev.  A Webster. 

Estey,  Mr.  G.  F Maiden. 

Ewiug,  Rev.  E.  C Danvers. 

Ewing,  Mrs.  E.  C „ 


List  of  Delegates.  317 

Ewiug,  Mr.  W.  C Danvers. 

Fairbanks,  Rev.  Francis Royalston. 

Ford,  Eev.  S.  T Lowell. 

Gardner,  Miss  Annie  H Boston. 

Hadley.Rev.  AV.  A Southbridge. 

Hamilton,  Dr.  J.  W Boston. 

Hamilton,  Mrs.  J.  W „ 

Hamilton,  Mr.  Gordon  B „ 

Harrison,  Miss  Elizabeth    North  Adams. 

Haynes,  Mr.  N.  W Salem. 

Hayward,  Mr.  M.  C Boston. 

Hazard,  Mr.  M.  C,  Ph.D Boston. 

Hovey,  Miss  Eliz.  D Lowell. 

Humphrey,  Miss  H.  M Athol. 

Humphry,  Miss  G.  E „ 

James,  Miss  Annie  P Chelsea. 

Jewett,  Mr.  A Boston. 

Kemp,  Mrs.  E.  A Danvers. 

Kemp,  Miss  J.  I „ 

Kingman,  Miss  Elizabeth  A Brockton. 

Landers,  Rev.  W.  P Salem. 

Lowry,  Mrs.  L.  M Newton. 

Lowry,  Master  Frank  P „ 

McCutcheon,  Mr.  A.  J Boston. 

McKay,  Miss  Nellie  F „ 

Mullins,  Rev.  E.  Y Newton  Centre. 

Pease,  Mr.  F.  A Fall  River. 

Pickering,  Miss  Annie  M Boston. 

Putman,  Miss  Bessie   Danvers. 

Robinson,  Mr.  T.  R Dtdham. 

Russell,  Mr.  T , 

Seabury,  Rev.  Joseph  B „ 

Shepard,  Miss  M.  L Boston. 

Smith,  Rev.  Edwin Bedford. 

Spalding,  •Rev.  C.  H Boston. 

Stockwell,  Miss  N.  L Peabody. 

Stone,  Mr.  A.  C Chelsea. 

Tapley,  Miss  Isabel  B ; Danvers. 

Taylor,  Mr.  G.  H Lowell. 

Upham,  Miss  L  F Boston. 

Vella,  Miss  Bertha  F 

Ward,  Miss  F.  A „ 

White,  Miss  Jennie  P Danvers. 

Whitney,  Mr.  W.  F 

Williams,  Mr.  A.  P Upton. 

Wood,  Misa  Florence  A Boston. 

Woodbridge,  Rev.  R.  G Middlebrough, 


318  Appendix. 

MICHIGAN. 

Baikwortli,  ^Ir.  Thos.  K Jackson. 

Campbell,  Mi:  J.  II Ypsilimti. 

Caiuijbell,  Miss   „ 

Cass,  Mr.  C.  L 

Harvey,  Mr.  T.  B 

Jacobs,  Mr.  C.  D 

Eeed,  Mrs.  J.  A Ousted. 

Stalker,  Mr.  D 

Stoekwoli,  Mr.  Cyrus  K 

Trumbull,  Miss  Caroline  Jackson. 

Warren,  Mr.  E.  K Three  Oaks- 
Warren,  Mrs.  E.  K „        „ 

Warren,  Mr.  Paul  C „        „ 

Woodford,  Mr.  John  Boots  Station, 

MISSOURI. 

Briggs,  Rev.  C.  H Fayetto. 

Briggs,  Mrs „ 

Carleton,  Rev.  T.  C St.  Louis. 

Collins,  Miss  Bertlia Tarkio. 

Gray,  Rev.  W.  L Platte  Citj'. 

Gibson,  Mr.  G.  G St.  Louis. 

Johnson,  Mrs.  M.  M „ 

Lanham,  Mr.  C.  H „ 

Lewis,  Mi.s8  L „ 

Liuvillc,  Mr.  J.  A Cowgill. 

Linville,  Mrs „ 

Martin,  Rev.  J.  M.  T Maryville. 

Rowett,Mr.  Chas Kansas  City. 

Rowett,  Mrs „ 

Semelroth,  Mr,  W.  J St.  Louis. 

Semelroth,  Mrs „ 

Standifer,  Rev.  R.  M Oxford. 

Woerman,  Mr.  H.  A St.  Louis. 

Woerraan,  Mrs.  H.  M , „ 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

Brown,  Mr.  Robert. Marshall  Portsmouth. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Barnes,  Mrs.  J.  Woodbridgc    Newark. 

Braker,  Rev.  J.  S Scotch  Plains. 

Brakcr,  Mrs „ 

Bruen,  Mr.  H.  M Belvidere. 


List  of  Delegates.  319 

Evans,  Rev.  Alfred    Crawford. 

Howe,  Miss  Agues ; Patersou. 

Meyer,  Mr.  G.  H Hamilton. 

Shoemaker,  Miss  H.  L Bridgeton. 

Smith,  Mr.  E.  D Elizabeth. 

Smith,  Mr.  W.  O „ 

Sulphen,  Mr.  A.  J 

Whitaker,  Miss  E.  R Bridgeton. 

Wood,  Rev.  Henry    Paterson. 

Wood,  Mrs „ 

NEW  MEXICO. 

Pearce,  Rev.  Wm E.  Las.  Vegas. 

Pearce,  Mrs „  „ 

NEW  YORK. 

Allan,  Mr.  Robert New  York. 

Baker,  Miss  A.  L Syracuse. 

Bromfield,  Mr.  Ed.  T New  York. 

Bromfield.  Mr.  P.  B 

Bromfield,  Mrs.  P.  B „ 

Bromfield,  Mr.  P.  R „ 

Cheetham,  Mr.  R.  M ,.   Williamson. 

Edwards,  Mr.  Thos New  York. 

Lucas,  Miss  E Johnstown. 

Milbury,  Miss  I.  J Brooklyn. 

Sharkey,  Miss  J New  York. 

Sharpe,  Miss  A.  .J Syracuse. 

Southerton,  Dr.  W.  J New  York. 

Southerton,  Mrs „ 

Taintor,  Mr.  J.  F Rochester. 

Taintor,  Mrs „ 

Van  Burk,  Mrs.  John Johnstown. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 
Jones,  Mr.  J.  R North  Carolina. 

OHIO. 

Alcorn,  Miss  Jennie    Ravenna. 

Bateman,  Miss  Nellie  E Cleveland. 

Byland,  Mr.  George  T HiUsboro'. 

Lewis,  Mr.  E.  S Cleveland. 

Martin,  Rev.  0.  L Kenton. 

Mitchell,  Miss  John   Cleveland. 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  .John    „ 

Peverance,  Mr.  J » 

Robertson,  Mr,  John,  M.D Cincinnati 


920  Appendix. 


OREGON. 
Wliiteman,  Mrs.  G.  H Oregon. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Bindley,  Mr.  John Pittsburgh. 

Bitting,  Miss  Carrie  A Piiiladelphia. 

Black,  Mr.  Israel  P 

Black,  Mrs „ 

Githens,  Mr.  B 

Heim,  Mr.  J.  C.J Pittsburgh. 

Landis,  Mr.  D.  M Perkasie. 

Landis,  Mrs „ 

Leach,  Mr.  T.  S Philadelphia. 

Sample,  Eev.  J.  Logan Rural  Valley. 

Schetky,  Miss  M.  E Philadelphia. 

Young,  Rev.  Samuel Pittsburgh. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

Aldrich,  Miss  Mary  A Providence. 

Cottrill,  Mrs.  C.  M Newport. 

Hammett,  Mr.  0.  E.,  jun „ 

McCrillis,  Mr.  A.  B Providence. 

McCrillis,  Mrs „ 

Miller,  Mr.  J.  A Bristol. 

Seabury,  Mr.  T.  M Newport. 

Watjen,  Rev.  H.  W Warren. 

Watjeii,  Mrs „ 

Williams,  Miss  Florence  A Providence. 

Wilson,  Mr.  W.  B „ 

SOUTH  DAKOTA. 
McCauley,  Mr.  A.  C Bridgewater. 

TENNESSEE. 

Bachmaun,  Mr.  G.  O Nashville. 

Hain,  Mr.  H.  J Memphis. 

Manning,  Professor  P.  H Nashville 

Mason,  Mr.  Alfred  D ]\Iemphis. 

Mason,  Miss  Elizabeth „ 

Pepper,  Mr.  J.  R „ 

Pepper,  Mrs ,, 

Pepper,  Miss  Martha   ...; „ 

Pepper,  Blaster  S.  McD „ 

Stanley,  Dr.  R.  S. , ; „ 


List  of  Delegates.  321 

TEXAS. 
Baker,  Rev.  J.  B Fort  Worth. 

VIRGINIA.' 
Sampson,  Mrs.  J.  R Charlottesville. 

WISCONSIN. 

Atherton,  Mrs.  J 

BufHngton,  Hon.  B.  A Madison. 

Buffington,  Mr? „ 

Cheney,  Mr.  E.  L Janesville. 

Eaton,  Mr.  Horner Madison. 

Eaton,  Mrs „ 

Edmunds,  Mr.  James     Beaver  Dam. 

■Griffiths,  Mr.  Thos.  P 

Hall,  Mr.  W 

Hall,  Mr.  F.  W 

Hall,  Mrs.  F.  W 

Kidder,  Mr.  G.  T Menesha. 

Mathew,  Rev.  S.  S 

Morrison,  Miss  Kittie    Milwaukie. 

Payne,  Mr.  Chas.  A Berlin. 

Perry,  Mr.  W.  E 

Pupihofer,  Miss  Sophie Milwaukie. 

Hichardson,  Rev.  H.  L „ 

Richardson,  Mrs 

Symons,  Rev.  E.  J 

Walbridge,  Mr.  J.  S.,  D.D Berlin. 


Mr.  Wallace  Dunbar,  Mr.  T.  B.  Broughton,  and  Mr.  P.  A.  Wheatley 
were  also  delegates  from  the  United  States. 


BKITISH  COLONIES  AND  DEPENDENCIES. 

CANADA. 

Baldwin,  Mr.  H Ontario. 

Baldwin,  Mrs.  H „ 

Blake,  Hon.  S.  H.,  Q  C Toronto. 

Fiske,  Rev.  D New  Brunswick. 

Garvin,  Mrs.  J.  W Peterboro',  Ontario. 

Gates,  Mrs.  G.  O St.  John,  N.B. 

Y 


322  Appendix. 

(loldsmith,  Mr.  John Alberton. 

Gouchcr,  Rev.  W.  C New  Brunswick. 

Ileudcrson,  Mr- W.  ft Ontario. 

Henilcrson,  Mrs.  W.  G „ 

Hord,  Mr.  Isaac  „ 

Hord,  Mrs.  Isaac „ 

Ilubly,  Rev.  A.  M Sussex,  New  Brunswick. 

Kirby,  Mr.  W,  J Charlottctown. 

Kirby,  Mrs.  W.  J „ 

Lavell,  Rev.  I.  R 

Lavell,  Mrs.  I.  R 

Lucas,  Rev.  Aquila New  Brunswick. 

Moodie,  Mr.  1  hos Montreal,  Quebec. 

Moodie,  Mrs.  Th(>s „ 

Munro,  Miss  Jessie  A Ontario. 

Fdtts,  Rev.  Dr.  Jchn „ 

Potts,  Miss  „ 

Robinson,  Mr.  Edgar  M New  Brunswick. 

Score,  Mr.  R.  J Toronto. 

Thomson,  Miss  M Manitoba. 

Tovell,  Mr.  J Ontario. 

Wall,  Mr.  G.  S New  Brunswick, 

Warner,  Miss  Gertrude Manitoba. 

Watson,  Mr.  Thomas Ontario. 

White,  Mr.  Charles New  Bmnswick, 

White,  Mrs.  Charles  „ 

Winn,  Major  J Nova  Scotia, 

Wright,  Rev.  T.  H Montreal,  Quebec. 

Wright,  Mrs.  T.  H , 

NEWFOUNDLAND. 

Allison,  Miss  E 

Angel,  Mr.  J.  E 

Ayrc,  Mr.  C.  F 

Courtnay,  Mr.  Hy 

Joyce,  Mrs.  Geo 

INDIA. 

Fowler,  Miss  A.  P 

Goldsmith,  Rev.  H.  D 

Jcwson,  Rev.  A 

Laidlew,  Mr.  R 

Lovain,  Mr.  J.  H 

Siividge,  Mr.  F.  W 

Souza,  Rev.  C.  W,  De 

Summers,  Rev.  E,  S 


List  of  Delegates. 


323 


Thoburn,  Bishop 

Ward,  Mrs 

"White,  Dr.  W.  W. 
Williams,  Miss  E.. 


AUSTRALASIA. 

Edder,  Mr.  R.  F Otago,  N.  Z. 

Hutchinson,  Mr.  Henry Victoria. 

Jackson,  Mr.  A 

Ogilvie,  Mr.  T.  G 

Stocks,  Mr 

Stocks,  Mrs 

Stocks,  Miss  E.  M 

Stocks,  Miss  J 

SOUTH  AFRICA. 
Eicliards,  Rev.  W.  H. Kimberley. 


CONTINENT  OF  EUKOPE. 

AUSTRIA. 

Langenan,  Baroness 

Victor,  Mr.  Johannes  (Budapest) 

BELGIUM. 

Brocher,  Pastor 

Moll,  Pastor   

FRANCE. 

Degremont,  Pastor   

De'gremont,  Madame    

Greig,  M 

Greig,  Madame 

Lelievre,  M 

GERMANY. 

Bemstorff,  Count  

Fetzer,  Pastor  J.  G 

Lelimann,  Pastor  J.  G 

Lehmann,  Mrs.  J.  G 

Peters,  Pastor  Claus 

Ronken,  Teacher  

Ziehl,  Pastor 


Y  2 


324  Appendix. 


HOLLAND. 


Von  Peursum,  Pastor  Schuller 
Vermeer,  Pastor    


ITALY. 


Burt,  Rev.  W.,  D.D 

Giddcns,  Kcv.  George  H 

Liddiard,  Mr.  J.  E.,  F.ll.G.S. 
Notarbartolo,  Rev.  Vincenzo 


NORWAY. 


Barman,  Pastor  Gustavc , 

Habvorscn,  Rev.  E 

JiJrgenscn,  Pastor 

Myrland,  Pitstor  E.  L 


Carlson,  Mr.  W... 
Carlson,  INIrs.  W. 
Linden,  Mr.  J.  .. 

Palm,  Mr.  A 

Truve,  Pastor  T. 


SWEDEN. 


SWITZERLAND  (FRENCH). 

Bieler,  Mons.  Charles  

Edwards,  Mr 


HAWAII. 


Waterhouse,  Mrs.  E, 
Ikchara,  Mr.  T.  C. 


JAPAN. 


Appendix. 


325 


Sunday  School  Statistics  of  all  Nations. 

World's  Third  Sunday  School  Convention,  July  11th  to  16th,  1898. 


Sunday 
Schools. 


Teachers. 


Scholars. 


Total 
Mt'mbtrsliip. 


Edeope. 
England  and  Wales  . . 

Scotland      

Ireland        

Austria,  including  Bo- 
hemia        

Belgium      

Bulgaria      

Denmark 

Finland       

France         

Germany 

Greece        

Holland       

Italy 

Norway       

Portugal      

Kussia 

Spain 

Sweden       

Switzerland 
Turkey  in  Europe 

Asia. 
India,  including  Ceylon 

Persia 

Siam 

China 

Japan  

Turkey  in  Asia  . . 

Africa       

North  Abierica. 
United  States     . . 

Canada        

Newfoundland        and 

Labrador 
West  Indies 
Central  America   and 

Mexico 

South  America  . . 

Oceania. 
Australasia 
Fiji  Islands 
Hawaiian  Islands 
Other  Islands     .. 

World   


43,632 
6,338 
3,620 

208 

83 

35 

819 

7,611 

1,475 

7,161 

4 

1,900 

336 

749 

18 

83 

48 

5,360 

1,762 

30 

5,578 
107 
16 
105 
150 
516 

4,246 

132,697 

8,986 

375 
2,306 

550 
350 


7,458 

1,474 

230 

210 


246,658 


613,036 
63,939 
27,980 

533 

403 

140 

4,275 

12,928 

3,876 

39,872 

7 

4,962 

1,482 

3,311 

70 

785 

220 

18,144 

7,490 

170 

13,937 

440 

64 

1,053 

390 

4,250 

8,455 

1,394,630 
75,064 

2,363 
10,769 

1,300 
3,000 

54,670 

2,700 

1,413 

800 


2,378,921 


6,843,072 
713,360 
319,316 

7,340 

4,616 

1,576 

71,371 

165,140 

61,200 

814,175 

180 

168,110 

15,787 

65,311 

1,419 

15,679 

4,275 

252,247 

122,567 

1,420 

247,472 

4,876 

809 

5,264 

7,019 

25,833 

161,394 

10,893,523 

582,070 

23,856 
111,335 

15,000 
150,000 

595,031 
42,909 
15,840 
10,000 


7,456,108 
772,299 
347,290 

7,873 

5,019 

1,716 

75,646 

178,068 

65,076 

854,047 

187 

173,072 

17,269 

68,622 

1,489 

16,464 

4,495 

270,391 

130,057 

1,590 

261,409 

5,316 

873 

6,317 

7,409 

30,083 

169,849 

12,288,153 
657,134 

26,219 
122,104 

16,300 
153,000 

649,701 
45,609 
17,253 
10,800 


22,540,392  24,919,313 


326  Appendix. 


RESOLUTIONS  ADOPTED   DURING  THE   MEETINGS 
OF   THE   CONVENTION. 

NoMiNATiox  Committee. 

Resolved — That  there  be  a  nominating  Committee,  consisting  of  the 
-following  gentlemen : — 

For  the  U.S.A.      .     .     .  Mr.  C,  D.  Meigs. 

Mr.  iE.  K.  Warren. 

Mr.  Chas.  N.  Bentlet. 
For  Canada      ....  Rev.  Aquila  Lucas. 
For  Australasia     .     .     .  Mr.  Archibald  Jackson. 
For  Europe       ....  Mr.  Augustus  Palm. 

Mr.  Edward  Towers. 

Mr.  T.  J.  Cox. 

Mr.  J.  Tillett. 

Mr.  E.  Vf.  Cover. 

On  their  Report,  the  oflicers  of  the  World's  Sunday  School  Con- 
vention -were  elected.     (<See  Commencement  of  Report.) 


Message  to  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs. 

Eesolved,  that  the  following  message  be  cabled  to  our  absent  Ex- 
President,  IMr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  of  Cliicago: — "Much  missed.  Conven- 
tion gratefully  remembers  past  splendid  services." 


The  Spanish-American  War. 

Resolved — "  Tliat  this  Convention  hails  with  satisfaction  the 
gathering  omens  of  renewed  peace  between  the  American  and 
8panisii  nations,  and  prays  that  tlie  outcome  of  the  war  may  bo  not 
only  tlio  enfranchisement  of  peoples,  but  the  enlargement  of  the  life- 
giving  Word  of  God  and  the  spread  of  religious  thought  and  liberty." 


The  Home  Department. 

Resolved — "That  this  Convention,  convinced  of  the  immense  value 
of  the  Home  Department,  as  a  most  important  auxiliary  of  Sunday 


Appendix.  327 

school  work  and  a  most  practical  Evangelistic  agency,  comnKnJs  the 
development  of  this  idea  to  all  Sunday  school  workers." 

A  rider  to  this  resolution  was  accepted,  adding  words  embracing 
the  consideration  of  house-to-house  work  in  this  country  in  connection 
with  the  Free  Church  Council. 


Sunday  School  Missionabies. 

Having  had  under  consideration  the  following  resolution  passed 
by  the  Missionary  Conference  at  Calcutta : — 

*'  That  the  Calcutta  Missionary  Conference  heartily  approve  of  the 
efforts  of  the  Indian  Sunday  School  Union  in  urging  the  needs  of  a 
second  Sunday  school  missionary  to  be  associated  with  Mr.  Burges  in 
his  great  and  promising  work,  and  of  largely  increased  funds  for  the 
production  of  vernacular  literature  for  Sunday  school  pupils  and 
teachers  in  India,  and  that  the  Secretary  be  requested  to  send  a 
fraternal  letter  in  the  name  of  the  Conference  to  the  Convention, 
pressing  these  two  things  on  the  favourable  consideration  of  the 
Convention." 

We  recommend  its  reference  to  the  India  Committee  of  the 
Sunday  School  Union  and  the  adoption  by  the  Convention  of  the 
following  resolution : — 

"  That  this  Convention  joyfully  congratulates  the  International 
Executive  upon  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Ikehara  as  Sunday  School 
Field  Secretary  for  Japan,  and  earnestly  hopes  that  further  aid  in  this 
game  direction  may  be  found  for  India  and  China. 


Thanks  to  Speakers. 


Resolved — "  That  the  best  thanks  of  this  Convention  are  due,  and 
are  hereby  given  to  all  those  who,  as  Chaii-men,  Speakers,  or  Con- 
tributors of  Papers,  have  secured  the  success  and  usefulness  of  this 
assembly ;  and  that  thanks  be  specially  accorded  to  the  Pastor  and 
Deacons  of  the  City  Temjjle,  for  the  accommodation  so  kindly  provided, 
and  to  the  Choir  and  its  conductors,  whose  services  have  lent  such 
brightness  and  joy  to  its  proceedings." 


The  Pbess. 

Also,  "  That  the  best  thanks  of  this  Convention  be  given  to  those 
organs  of  the  British  and  American  press  which  have  furnished  tlieir 
readers  with  reports  of  its  proceedings  and  favourable  notices  of  its 
aims  and  methods."  In  connection  with  this  resolution  the  service 
of  the  International  Evangel  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Semelroth  were 
specially  mentioned. 


328  Appendix. 

Future  Meetings  of  the  Convektion. 

Hesolved — "  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested  to  consider 
whether  it  is  not  desirable  that  the  Sessions  vi  the  World's  Sunday 
School  Convention  be  held  at  intervals  of  six  years  instead  of  five  as 
at  present,  so  that  they  may  coincide  with  the  term  of  office  of  the 
International  Sunday  School  Lesson  Committee,  and  that  they  may 
meet  with  the  International  Sunday  School  Convention,  which  meets 
at  intervals  of  three  years." 

Also,  that  the  Executive  Committee  is  hereby  authorised  to  make- 
such  arrangements  as  may  be  necessary  for  alternate  joint  Sessions  of 
the  World's  Sunday  School  Convention  and  the  International  Sunday 
School  Convention,  if  in  their  opinion  a  change  in  the  interval*, 
between  the  mcLtings  of  tiie  Convention  is  desirable. 


A  Sunday  Scho  l  Tour  of  the  World. 

Besolved — "  That  the  World's  Executive  Ccramittee  is  hereby  re- 
quested to  appoint  a  Committee,  to  consist  of  one  member  from  each  of 
the  following  named  countries  :  England,  Scotland,  Germany,  Canada 
and  the  United  States,  and  with  Jlr.  B.  F.  Jacobs  as  Chairman,  to 
consider  and  plan  for  a  tour  of  the  world  by  several  representative 
men,  in  the  interest  of  the  Sunday  school  cause." 


Foreign  Delegates  Thanks  to  English  Workers. 

Rev.  Aquila  Lucas  :  The  foreign  delegates  desire  to  present  a 
resolution  as  a  supplement  to  the  resolutions  by  the  Committee.  Since 
we  entered  England  we  have  been  borne  on  from  day  to  day  by  waves, 
of  kindness.  We  would  make  mention  of  the  Sunday  School  Union 
at  Liverpool,  whose  officers  met  us  at  the  landing,  and  arranged  a 
meeting  of  welcome ;  the  long-to-be-remembered  reception  by  the 
Lord  and  Lady  Mayoress ;  the  strong  instructive  meeting  accorded  us 
by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society ;  the  manifold,  every  hout 
attention  of  the  officers  and  members  of  the  London  Sunday  School 
Union;  and  crowning  all,  the  concerts  given  by  the  London  Sunday 
School  Choir,  followed  by  that  exquiaite  tea  ;  all  these  things  woven  in 
with  these  meetings  of  spiritual  strengthening,  will  furnish  us  with 
hallowed  memories  in  the  years  to  come. 

We  therefore  offer  the  following  resolution  : — 

Jleeolved—^^  Th&t  we,  the  foreign  delegates,  desire  to  express  our 
heartfelt  thanks  to  our  English  fellow-workers,  and  to  assure  them 
of  our  earnest  prayers  and  willing  co-operation  in  their  efforts  to  lift 
this  world  to  Christ." 


Appendix.  329 

LETTERS  OF  GREETING. 

TJiis  communication  arrived  too  late  to  he  submitted  to  the  Convention. 

The  North  London  Presbytery  to  the  World's  Sunday 
School  Convention. 

"  Tlie  Presbytery  of  London  North  sends  fraternal  greetings  to  the 
members  of  the.  World's  Sunday  School  Convention  now  assembled  in 
the  City  Temple.  We  heartily  join  in  the  welcome  extended  to  the 
brethren  from  abroad  ;  and  it  is  our  prayer  that  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church  may  abundantly  bless  the  deliberations  of  the  Convention  ; 
make  it  an  occasion  for  exhibiting  and  promoting  the  unity  of  the 
Church  ;  and  guide  it  to  such  decisions  as  will  lead  more  and  more  to 
the  ingathering  to  the  fold  of  Christ  of  the  children  and  youth,  and 
the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  all  over  the  world.  Attested  by 
Alex.  Jetfrey,  Presbytery  Clerk." 


The  Non-partisan  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  of  the  United  States  op  America,  to  the  World's 
Sunday  School  Convention. 

1235  N.     13th  Street, 

Philadelpliia,  Pa.,  U.S. 
Greeting  : 

Dear  Brethren  in  Christ, — In  view  of  the  great  power  inherent 
in  your  very  influential  body,  we  respectfully  request  that  you  con- 
sider the  following : — 

Whilst  the  Church  gathers  the  children  into  the  Sabbath  school 
once  a  week,  they  are  daily  exposed  to  the  influence  of  the  saloon  and 
the  diabolical  instrumentalities  used  to  entice  them  therein.  It 
behoves  us,  therefore,  to  send  them  forth  thoroughly  equipped  to 
resist  tlie  temptations  that  beset  them  on  every  side.  That  this  has 
not  been  effectually  done  heretofore,  the  annals  of  crime  fully  demon- 
strate. Of  all  the  inmates  of  our  penal  institutions,  eighty  (80)  per 
cent,  have  been  Sabbath  school  scholars  of  the  various  denominations ; 
and  seventy-five  (75)  per  cent,  of  these  attribute  their  downfall  to  the 
use  of  intoxicants. 

We  therefore  earnestly  request  that  you  will  recommend  Gospel 
Temperance  instruction  to  a  defined  place  in  your  Sabbath  schools, 
devoting  to  it  at  least  fifteen  (15)  minutes  monthly,  jutst  before  the 
close  of  the  session,  as  is  done  in  most  schools  for  the  missionary 
cause. 

Very  respectfully  submitted, 

(Mrs.)  H.  S.  Ellis, 

£ec.  S.  S.  Tern,  Work. 


(     331     ) 


INDEX. 


Addresses  of  Welcome,  1-14,  16,  25-32. 

Africa,  iiouth,  Response  to  AVekome,  for, 
45. 

America,  Organised  Sunday  school  work 
in.   Address  by   Mr.  C.  D.  Meigs,  219 ; 

■    Questions  aud  Answers  on,  226. 

Arthur,  Mr.  J.  W.,  Paper  on  "The  Un- 
covering System,"  117. 

Australia,  Response  to  Welcome,  for,  37. 

Bailey,  Mr.  J.,  The  value  of  music  and 
singiug  in  Education,  133. 

Barnard,  Mr.  J.,  Speech  at  Crystal  Palace, 
130. 

Barnes,  Mrs.  J.  AV.,  Address  on  Principles 
of  Primary  Teaching,  110. 

Belsej^  Mr.  F.  F.,  Address  of  AVelcome,  23 ; 
the  Homo  Department,  175 ;  Sunday 
sehcKil  work  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
94  ;  the  Use  of  the  Blackboard  for  Teach- 
ing the  International  Lessons,  121. 

Bernstorff,  Count,  Response  for  Germany 
to  Addresses  of  Welcome,  41 ;  Speech  at 
Queen's  Hall,  288. 

Bible  Reading  Associations,  Daily,  152. 

Bible  Society,  Reception  of  Delegates  bj-  the 
British  and  Foreign,  1. 

Bible  Study  at  Home,  Paper  by  Professor 
W.  T.  Davison,  D.D.,  177. 

Bible  Study  in  a  Preparation  Class,  Paper 
by  Mr.  W.  H.  Groser,  B.Sc,  184. 

Bible,  The,  Address  by  Bishop  Fowler, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  193. 

Bible,  The  Translation  of  the.  Address  by 
Rev.  Dr.  AVright,  4. 

Black,  Mr.  I.  P.,  on  Primary  Unions  and 
Summer  Schools,  98. 

Blackboard  and  Object  Lessons,  116-124. 

Blackljoard  Demonstrations,  The  Uncover- 
ing System,  H7  ;  Sketches,  119-123;  The 
Use  of  Scissors  and  Paste,  124. 

Blake,  The  Hon.  S.  H.,  Speech  at  Mansion 
House,  17 ;  Response  for  Canada  to 
Addresses  of  Welcome,  34  ;  Address  at 
Queen's  Hall,  281. 


Book,  the  Teacher,  the  Child,  The  Session 

on,  190-206. 
Bourgogne,   References    to  four  delegates 

who  perished  at  the  sinking  of  the,  22,  23. 
Bristow,  Mr.  P.  H.,  Paper  on  Grading  and 

Management,  162. 
Purges,  Rev.  R.,  Paper  on  India,  by,  64. 
Burt,  Dr.  AVm.,  Speech  at  Mansion  House, 

17  ;  Report  of  work  in  Italy,  71. 

Canada,  Report  of  work  in,  76 ;  Response 

to  Welcome  for,  34. 
Chaplin,    Rev.     AV.     Knight,     Paper     on 

Christian    Endeavour    and    the    Sunday 
•  school,  275. 
Child,  The,  Address  by  Professor  Hamill, 

202  ;  The  Place  of,  in  the  membership  of 

the  Christian  Church,  Paper  Ijy  Mr.  G.C. 

Turner,  2C0. 
Christian  Endeavour  aud  the  Sunday  school. 

Paper  by  Rev.  AV.  Knight  Chaplin,  275. 
Church,   The  Place    of   the  child    in    the 

membership  of  the  Christian,  Paper  by 

Mr.  G.  C.  Turner,  260. 
City  Temple,  Meetings  held  in  the,  20,  22 , 

49,  74,  136,  162,  190,  207,  230. 
Class  or  Departmental   Management,  Ad- 
dress by  Miss  Bertha  A'elLi,  107. 
Clifford,  The   Rev.  Dr.  John,   Address  of 

AVelcome,  30. 
Coloured  People  of   the    Southern   States, 

Report  of  Sunday  school  work  among  the, 

89. 
Concert  by  Polytechnic  aud  People's  Palace 

Mandoline  Band,  135. 
Concert,  Junior  Scholars,  at  Crystal  Palace, 

127;  Senior  Scholars,  at  Crystal  Palace, 

127. 
Convention,  Future  Meetings  of  the  Resolu- 
tion on,  248. 
Crawford,  Mr.,  reads  Mr.  J.  AV.  Arthur's 

Paper  on  The  Uncovering  System,  117. 
Crystal     Palace,    Grand     Sunday     School 

Demonstration  at  the,  98-135  ;  Delegates' 

Meeting  at,  129. 


332 


Index. 


Davison,  Professor  W.   T.,  Taper  on  liible 
Study  at  Homo,  177. 

Delpgat«'e,  l.Ut  of,  293-324;  Meeting  at 
Crystal  Palace,  129. 

Devil's  Triple  Chain  of  Impurity,  Intem- 
perance ami  Gambling,  Paper  l)y  Mrs. 
Frances  S.  Ilallowcs,  250. 

Eighth  Session,  162-189. 

Klevcnth  Session,  230-249. 

Europe,  Ktport  of  Sunday  school  work  in, 

51. 
Examined,  The  AVork,  136-161. 
Excurtrions  to  Places  of  Interest  in  London, 

295. 
Executive  Committee,  4  7. 
E.xlension  of  the  Work  in  Various  Lands, 

by  Mr.  A.  Jackson,  213. 

Fctzer,  Professor,  Response  for  Germany 

to  Address  of  Welcome,  33. 
Fifth  Session,  127,  128. 
Fiist  Session,  22-48. 
Foreign  Sunday  school  Association  in  the 

Uniteti  Stales,  Keport  of  the,  55 
Fourth  Session,  98,  135. 
Fowler,  Bishop,  Address  on  The  Bible,  193. 

Garden  I'arty  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Evan 

Spicer,  J.P.,  296. 
Gennany,    llesponses    to   Welcome,    for, 

38,  41. 
Grading  and   Management,  by  Mr.  P.  H. 

Bristuw,  162. 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  Report  of  Sunday 

^chool  Work  in,  94. 
Green,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  G.,  The  International 

Scheme  of  Lessons,  144. 
Groser,  Mr.  W.  H.,  Paper  on  Bible  Study  in 

a  Preparation  Class,  184  ;  Speech  at  the 

Crystal  Palace,  129. 

Hallowes,    Mrs.    Frances   S.,    Paper   on. 

Impurity,  Intemperance  and  Gambling, 

250. 
Ilamlll,  Professor,  reads  Dr.  G.  Heimbcck's 

Paper  on  Norway,  09  ;  speech  at  Crystal 

Palace,  131 ;  Address  on  The  Child,  202  ; 

Address  on  American   Mormal   Clastes, 

239  ;  speech  at  Queen's  Hall,  290. 
Hazard,  Mr.  M.  C,  Paper  on  the  Functions 

of  the  Home  Department,  170. 
Heimbeck,  Dr.  J.,  Paper  on  Sunday  school 

work  in  Norway,  69. 
Holmes,  Mr.  J.  T.,  Paper  on  The  Continent 

of  Europe,  51. 
Holy   Spirit,    Office    and    AVork    of    the, 

Address  by  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  B.A.,  207. 


Home,  Bible  Study  at,  Paper  by  Professor 

W.  T.  Davison.  D.D.,  177. 
Home  Depattment,  the,  by  Mr.  Belsey,  175  ; 

The   Functions    of   the.   Paper   by   Mr. 

M.  C.  Hazard,  170  ;  Resolution  on,  246. 

Ikehara,   Mr.  T.  C,  Repoit  of  Work  in 

Japan,  61. 
Impurity,    Intemperance   and    Gambling, 

I'jper  by  Mrs.  Fiances  S.  Hallowes,  250. 
India,  Response  to  Welcome,  for,  43. 
India's  Hundnd  Million  Children,  by  Rev. 

R.  Burges,  64. 
In'cmperance,  and  Gambling,    Impurity, 

250. 
lutcrua'ioiial   Bible    Reading    Association, 

by  Rev.  ^\■.  J.  Mills,  152. 
International  Lesson    Committee,    Repo'.t 

of  the,  137. 
International  Lesson  Scheme,  by  Rev.  Dr. 

S.   (Jr.  Green,    144  ;    by  Dr.   Potts,  140  ; 

answers  to  questions,  by  Dr.  Potts,  150. 
International  Lessons  on  the  Continent  of 

Kurope,  151. 
Italy,  Report  of  Sunday  school  work  in, 

71. 

Jackson,  Mr.   A.,   Paper  on  Extension  of 

the  AV'ork  in  Various  Lands,  213. 
Jacobs,  Mr.  B.  F.,  Message  to,  49 ;  Paper 

on  Sunday  school  AVork  in  the  United 

States,  80. 
Japan,  Report  of  work  in,  61. 
Jew'son,  Rev.   A.,  reads  Rev.  R.  Burges's 

Paper  on  India,  64. 

Kemp,  Mr.  Caleb  R.,  Address  of  Welcome 

by.  1. 
Key  worth,  Miss,  Lesson  to  a  Primary  Class, 

118, 

Lament,   Rev.  J.  D.,   Speech  it  Queens 

Hall,  293. 
Legion  of  Honour  of  an  American  Sunday 

SchO'il  Association,  241. 
Lesson    Committee,   The    Report    of    the 

International,  137. 
Lesson    Schema,   The   International.      By 

Rev.  Dr.  S.  G.  Green,  144 ;  The  Uniform, 

140. 
Lessons,  Blackboard,  116-124. 
Liduiard,  Mr.   J.  E.,  Speech  at  the  Bible 

Society,  15 ;  Calling  the  Roll  24. 
Lord    Mayor,   Reception  ;of   Delegates  by 

the,  16;    Address  of  Welcome  to  Dele- 
gates, 16  ;  Reply  to  Vote  of  Thanks,  19. 
Lucas,  Rev.  Aquila,   Report  of  Work  in 

Canada,   76 ;    Speech    at  Queen's   Ilall, 

286. 


Index. 


333 


Macartney,   the   Rev.   H.   J.,    Address    of 

Welcome  at  the  Bible  Society,  9. 
Management,  Class,  or  Departmental,  lOY  ; 

Grading  and,  16'?. 
Mansion  House,  Reception  of  Delegates  at 

the,  16. 
Maxwell,  Rev.  L.  B.,   Report  of  Sunday 

school  Work  among  the  Coloured  People 

of  the  Southern  Stat»p,  89. 
McCrillis,    Mr.   A.   B.,    reads    Mr.   B.   F. 

Jacobs's  Paper  on  Sunday  school  Work 

in    the    United    States,   19 ;    Speech    at 

Queen's  Hall,  286. 
Meigs,  Mr.  C.  D.,  Address  on  Organised 

Sunday  school  Work  in  America,  219. 
Meyer,  Rev.  F.  B.,  Address  on  the  Olflce 

and  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  207. 
Mills,  Rev.  W.  J.,  Paper  on  Daily   Bible 

Reading  Associations,  1.52. 
Ministerial  Colleges.     The  Introduction  of 

Special  Training  for  Sunilay  f  chool  Work, 

Piiper  by  Mr.  Edwin  B.  Raymond,  254. 
Missionaries,  Sunday  school  Resolution  on, 

246. 
Ninth  Session,  190-206. 
Nomination  Committee,  I^ist  of,  29  ;  Report 

of  47. 
Normal    classes,    American,    Address    by 

Professor  Hamill,  239. 
Normal  Classes  and  Institutes,  Paper  by 

Mr.  A.  Sindall,  230. 
Northampton,  tlie  Marquis  of.  Address  of 

Welcome,  25;  Address  at  Queen's  Hall, 

279. 
Norway,  Report  of  Sunday  school  work  in, 

69. 

OfBcers  of  the  Convention  (see  commence- 
ment of  volume). 
Officers  of  the  Convention,  Election  of,  47. 
Opening  Meeting,  22. 

Parker,  Dr.  Joseph,  Sermon,  155 ;  Wel- 
come to  Delegates,  160. 

Parkin,  Rev.  Geo.,  Address  on  Teaching, 
198. 

Pepper,  Mr.  J.  R.,  Paper  on  the  Superin- 
tendent, 167. 

Potts,  Dr.,  reads  the  Report  of  the  Inter- 
national Lesson  Committee,  140  ;  the  Uni- 
form Sunday  school  Lesson  Systpm,  140  ; 
Questions  answered,  150. 

Preliminary  Meeting  of  the  Convention : — 
Praise  and  Prayer  Meeting,  20. 
Reception   of  Delegates  by  the   British 

and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  1. 
Reception  of  Delegates  by  the  Lord  Mayor 
of  London,  16. 


Preparation  Class,  Bible  Study  in  a. 
Paper  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Groser,  B.Sc,  184. 

Press,  the,  Vote  of  Thanks  to,  247. 

Primary  Class,  Lesson  to  a,  118. 

Primary  Teacliing,  Principles  of,  Address 
by  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes,  110. 

Primary  ^Vork,  Questions  and  Answers  on, 
113 ;  Summer  Training  Schools  for. 
Address  by  Mrs.  W.  J.  Semelroth,  242. 

Primary  Unions  and  Summer  schools. 
Paper  by  Mr.  I.  P.  Black,  98. 

Programme  of  Convention  (see  commence- 
ment of  volume). 

Public  Institutions,  Sunday  school  and. 
Paper  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Webster,  266. 

Queen's  Hall,  Great  Public  Sleeting  in,  279. 

Raymond,  Mr.  Edwin  B.,  Paper  on  The 
Introduction  into  Ministerial  Colleges  of 
Special  Training  for  Sunday  school  Work, 
251. 

Reception  of  Dsl^gates  by  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  1. 

Reported,  The  Work,  49-97. 

Resolutions.     [See  Appendi.i.] 

Resolutions,  Committee  on,  50. 

Responses  to  Addresses  of  Welcome,  32-47. 

Richards,  Rev.  W.  H.,  Response  for  South 
Afiica  to  Addresses  of  Welcome,  45. 

Roll  Call,  The,  24,  29. 

Rowley,  Mr.,  Speech  at  Crj'stal  Palace,  133. 

Second  Session,  49-73. 

Semelroth,  Mrs.  W.  J.,  Replies  to  Questions 

on    Primary    Work,    113;    Address    on 

Summer   Training  schools  for    Pi'imary 

Work,  242. 
Sermon  by  Dr.  Joseph  Parker,  155. 
Seventh  Session,  136-161. 
Sindall,  Mr.  A.,  Paper  on  Normal  Classes 

and  Institutes,  230. 
Sixth  Session,  1  ;9-135. 
Southern  States,   The  Coloured   People  of 

the,  Report  of  Sunday  scliool  Work,  89. 
Spalding,  Rev.  Dr.,   Response  for  United 

States  to  Addresses  of  Welcome,  32. 
Spanish-American  AV'^ar,  Resolution  on,  246. 
Speakers,  Vote  of  Thanks  to,  247. 
Spicer,  Mr.  Albert,  M.P.,  Speech  at  Third 

Session,  74;  Speech  at  Queen's  Hall,  288. 
Spicer,   Mr.   Evan,  J.  P.,  Garden-Party   at 

the  residence  of,  296. 
Statistics,  Sunday  School,  of  all  nations,  325. 
Stocks,    Mr.,    Response    for    Australia    to 

Addresses  of  Welcome,  37. 
"  Subdue  the   Earth,"   A  Sermon  by  Dr. 

Parker,  155. 


334 


Index. 


Summor    Training    schools    for    Primary 

A\'ork.    Address  by  Mrs.  W.  J.  S<mcl- 

rutli,  242. 
Sunday  school,  Christian    Endeavour  and 

tlie,  Paper  by  Rev.  \V.  Kuight  Chaplin, 

275. 
Sunday  school.  The  Session  on,  162-189. 
Sunday   schools    and    l*tiblic    Institutions, 

Paper  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Webster,  266. 
Superintendent,  The,  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Pepper, 

167. 
Sweden,  Response  to  Welcome  for,  42. 

Teacher,  The  Work  of  the  Sunday  school. 

Address  by  Rev.  H.  J.  Macartney,  9. 
Teacher's  Covenant,  A,  274. 
Teaching.      Address    by   the    Rev.    Geo. 

Parkin,  P.O.,  198. 
Tenth  Session,  207-229. 
Third  S-ssion,  74-97. 
Tliobum,   Uishop,  Response   for   In<!ia  to 

Addresses  of  Welcome,  43 ;   Address  at 

Queen's  Hall,  2S3. 
Tour  of  the  AVorld,  A  Sunday  school,  Reso- 
lution on,  219. 
Towers,  Mr.  E.,  Address  of  Welcome,  27 ; 

Klecttd  President  of  the  Convei.tion,  47  ; 

Speech  at  Queen's  Hall,  287. 
Training    for    Sunday  school    Work,  The 

Introduction  into  Ministerial  Colleges  of 

Special,    Paper   by  Mr.  Edwin  B.  Ray- 

nionJ,  C54. 
Training,  Sunday  school,  230-249. 
Tiuve,   Pastor,  Response    for   Sweden    to 

Addresses  of  Welcome,  42. 
Turner,  Mr.  G.  C,  Paper  on  The  Place  of 

the    Child    in    the    Membership  of   the 

Christian  Church,  260. 
Twelfth  Session,  279-:95. 


Uniform    Sunday   .'n.MiooI  Lesson  System, 

The,  140. 
United    States,     Report    of    the    Foreigu 

.Sunday  School   Association   in  the,    55.; 

Report  of  Sunday  school  work  in  the,  80 

Response  to  welcome  for,  32. 


Vella,  Miss  Bertha,  Address  on  Class   or 
Departmental  Management,  107. 


AVarren,  Bishop,  Speech  at  Mansion  House, 

18. 
Webster,  ^Ir.  A.  W.,  The  use  of  Scissorb 

and  Paste  in   Plackboard  Lessons,  124 ; 

I'aper    on    Sunday  Schools    and    I'ublic 

Institutions,  266 ;  Reads  Mr.  A.  Sindall's 

Paper  on  Normal  Classes,  230. 
Welcome,  Addresses  of,  1-14,  16,  25-32. 
AVelcome   to   Delegates,    by   Dr.    I'arker, 

160. 
AVerner,  ;\Ir.  I.  P.,  Address  of  Welcome  at 

the  Bible  Society,  14. 
Whjte,  Mr.  Robert,  Speech  by,  190. 
Williams,  Sir  George,  Greeting  on  behalf 

of  the  Young  Men's  Christian   Associa- 
tion, 192. 
AVitchell,  Mr.   E.  J.,  Blackboard  Demon- 

btratioBs,  119. 
Woodruff,    Rev.    H.    C,    Report    of    the 

Foreign  Sunday  School  Association  in  the 

United  States,  55. 
Work  Examined,  The,  136-161. 
■Work  Reported,  The,  49-97. 
Workhouse,  Sunday  schools  in  the,  266. 
World's  Sunday*School  Statistics,  325. 
Wright,  Rev.  Dr.,  Address  of  AVelcome  at 

the  Bible  Society,  4. 


(     335     ) 


INDEX  TO   SPEAKERS. 


Bailey,  Mr.  James,  118,  133. 

Barnard,  Mr.  J.,  130. 

Barnes,  Mrs.  J.  AV.,  110. 

Belsey,  Mr.  F.  F.,  23,  29,  48,  iO,  94,  116, 

120,  125,  126,  175,  245,  246. 
Bernstorff,  Count,  41,  151,  288. 
Black,  Mr.  I.  P.,  98. 
Blake,  Hon.  S.  H.,  17,  34,  207,  229,  281. 
Bristow,  Mr.  P.  H.,  162. 
Burt,  Dr.  Wm.,  17,  71. 

Clarke,  Mr.  J.,  247. 
•  Clifford,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  30. 
Crawford,  Mr.,  117. 

Davies,  Colonel    F.  H.  (Lord    Mayor   of 

London),  16,  19. 
Davison,  Professor  W.  T.,  177. 

Fetzer,  Professor,  38. 
Fowler,  Bishop,  193. 

Green,  Kev.  Dr.  S.  G.,  144. 

Groser,  Mr,  W.  H.,  129,  131,  133,  133, 184. 

Hamill,  Professor,  47,  69,  131,  202, 239, 290. 
Hazard,  Mr.  M.  C,  170,  246. 
Holmes,  Mr.  J.  T.,  51. 

Ikehara,  Mr.  T.  C,  61. 

Jackson,  Mr.  A.,  213. 
Jewson,  Rev.  A.,  64. 

Kemp,  Mr.  Caleb  R.,  1,  9, 14,  16. 
Keyworth,  Miss,  119. 

Lamont,  Rev.  J.  D.,  293. 
Liddiard,  Mr.  J.  E.,  15,  24. 
Lord  Mayor  of  London,  1 6,  19. 
Lucas,  Rev.  Aqiiila,  76,  2-6. 


Jlacartney,  Rev.  H.  J.,  9. 

Maxwell,  Rev.  L.  B.,  89. 

McCrillis  Mr.  A.  B.,  20,  22,  79,  ISO,  246, 

248,  286. 
Meigs,  Mr.  C.  D.,  219,  227. 
Meyer,  Rev.  F.  B.,  207.  , 
Mills,  Rev.  W.  J.,  152. 

Northampton,  The  Marquis  of,  25,  279,;288. 

Parker,  Rev.  Dr.,  15.5,  160. 

Parkin,  Rev.  Geo.,  198. 

Pepper,  Mr.  J.  R.,  167. 

Pott«,  Rev.  Dr.,  49,  137,  140,  150,  151. 

Richards,  Rev.  W.  H.,  45. 
Rowley,  Mr.,  133. 
Rutherford,  Mr.  G.,  227,  246. 

Semelroth,  Mr.  W.  J.,  248,  249. 
Semelroth,  Mrs.  W.  J.,  113,  242. 
Spalding,  Rev.  Dr.,  32. 
Spicer,  Mr.  Albert,  M.P.,  74,  288. 
Stocks,  Mr.  37. 

Thohum,  Bishop,  43,  283. 

Tlllett,  Mr.  James,  29. 

Towers,  Mr.  E.,  27,  43,  61,  69,  134,  ^136 

162,  287. 
Truve,  Pastor,  42. 

Vella,  Miss  Bertha,  107. 

Warren,  Bishop,  18. 
Webster,  Mr.  A.  W.,  124,  230. 
Werner,  Mr.  I.  P.,  14. 
White,  Mr.  Alderman  Geo.,  98. 
Whyte,  Mr.  Robert,  190,  192. 
Williams,  Sir  Geo.,  192. 
Witchell,  Mr.  E.  J.,  119,  126. 
Woodruff,  Rev.  H.  C,  15,  55. 
Wright,  Rev.  Dr.,  4. 


IXJNDON  :  PHINTED  BY  TVILLIAM    CLOWES  AKD  SONS,  UitlTED, 

OTAJrFORD  STREET  AND  CniMNG  0EOS3. 


336  AD  VER  T IS  EM E  NTS. 

INTERNATIONAL 
BIBLE  READING  ASSOCIATION. 

TiiK  i)lan  of  ilaily  Bible  Readings  prepared  by  this  Association  is  specially 
helpful  to  Sunday  School  Teachers  and  Scholars. 

It  provides  a  Bible  Commentary  on  the  subject  of  the  International 
Lesson. 

It  secures  the  study  of  the  Lesson  in  the  Home  every  day  of  the  week. 

It  has  gained  the  approval  of  Ministers  and  prominent  Sunday  School 
AVorkers. 

It  has  been  adopted  by  more  than  forty  different  Christian  Denomi  = 
nations. 

Its  members  are  located  in  all  parts  of  the  World,  and  the  cards  of 
membership  are  issued  in  thirty  languages. 

A  Branch  may  be  formed  in  any  Church  or  Sunday  School,  etc.,  the  only 
requisite  being  an  efiicient  Secretary.  Mem])ers  of  Branches  subscribe  one  penny 
per  annum  (three  cents  in  Canada  and  United  States)  and  receive  a  card  of 
nvjmbersliip  printed  in  colours,  leaflets  containing  hints  on  each  day's  reading,  and 
quarterly  circular  letters,  all  sent  post  free  to  the  Branch  Secretary. 

A  free  copy  of  "  The  I.  B.  R.  A.  Messenger,"  giving  interesting  reports  of  the 
work  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  is  sent  quarterly  to  the  Secretary. 

District  Secretaries  who  supply  cards,  etc.,  to  Branches  have  been  appointed 
in  Canada,  United  States,  Jamaica,  Cape  Colony,  India,  Australia  and  New 
Zealand. 

Address  enquiries  to  the  Hon.  Sec,  Mr.  C.  \Yatkrs,  56,  Old  Bailey,  London. 

THE    CONTINENTAL    MISSION. 

THIS  Mission,  which  was  commenced  in  1S64,  is  wholly  propagandist,  that 
is  to  say,  its  aim  is  the  introduction  and  spread,  among  the  nations  of 
Europe,  of  our  o^vn  Sunday  School  system. 

Even  now  it  is  no  easy  task  to  win  some  of  the  Protestants  of  Europe  to 
acknowledge  the  necessity  of  Sunday  Schools  as  a  means  of  religious  education,  but 
with  the  children  it  is  different  :  they  come  readily  to  the  schools  when  provided, 
and  in  numerous  instances  children  of  Roman  Catholics  are  found  in  attendance, 
listening  to  the  unalloyed  truth  of  God's  Word. 

It  is,  however,  in  breaking  new  ground  that  their  efforts  are  specially  valuable, 
and  although  much  has  been  done,  a  vast  field  yet  remains  untilled  for  want  of 
means  to  employ  workers.  _  ^ 

The  missionaries  employed  are  natives  of  the  various  countries,  mostly  pastors 
who  have  the  entry  into  the  pulpits  of  the  churches,  with  opportunities  of 
addressing  parents,  enlisting  teachers  and  workers,  giving  Bible  lesson  expo- 
sitions, and  in  all  instances  are  they  charged  to  visit  all  denominations,  their 
reports  showing  that  this  is  faithfully  done. 

At  present  the  Mission  is  working  in  the  following  countries  :  — 

France,  Germany,  Hnlland,  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Italy,  making  occasional 
<^rants  to  workers  in  oilier  lands,  including  Brittany,  Bohemia,  Spain,  Portugal, 
and  the  ever  interesting  land  of  Palestine. 

Help  is  given  for  Sunday  School  literature  in  the  loan  of  cliches  lustrations 

and  grants  for  teachers'  manuals  so  far  as  funds  permit  ;  but  the  present  income  of 
alxjut  /'l,  0  3  per  annum  is  quite  insufficient  to  meet  the  urgent  needs  of  the 
existing  work  or  to  extend  it,  and  contributions  from  all  the  Sunday  Schools 
of  our  land  are  earnestly  desired  as  for  part  of  the  Great  Mission  Work  oi 
the  Church  of  Christ. 

Funds  are  urgently  needed.  Contributions  can  be  sent  to  Mr.  M.  W, 
RlCHARUS,  Honorary  Finance  Secretary,  56,  Old  Bailey,  E.C. 


DATE  DUE 

^^ 

GAYLORD           #3523PI        Printed  in  USA 

